A Helping Hand
by little.tel
Summary: Jack Bruno has a habit of picking up strays in his cab. This is how the story would have gone if one of those strays had stayed with Jack and joined the Race to Witch Mountain. Another 'Helping Hand' in Seth and Sara's mission. Not Yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**A Helping Hand**

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Race to Witch Mountain or it's characters. The only things that I can claim as my own are LIX and the additions and changes that occur to the story's plot because of her presence.

**Chapter One**

Jack Bruno let out a small sigh of relief as he drove away from the taxi yard. He centered his thoughts on the day ahead, pushing his latest encounter with Wolfe's men out of his mind. His eyes glanced at his rearview mirror, checking the distance of the car behind him. At the sight of two blonde teenagers sitting in his back seat his foot stomped down on the brake causing the entire taxi to jerk to a halt.

Jack twisted around in his seat so that he could face the two teenagers directly. He stared at them; his eyes moved from one to the other and then back again before he was able to demand, "Where'd you come from?"

"Outside," said the blonde boy.

"Yeah, I figured that part out on my own," said Jack "How'd you get in the car?"

"Through that portal." As the girl spoke both teenagers pointed to the boy's door.

For a moment Jack simply looked at the two. Their simple, yet obviously true answers had caught him off guard.

Taking advantage of his silence the boy quickly introduced them, "I'm Seth. This is my sister Sara. We require your transportation services immediately."

"Really?" asked Jack. Without pausing he continued, "We I require-"

"Currency transaction," interrupted the girl, Sara.

As his sister spoke, Seth pulled a neatly folded wad of cash from his pocket. Holding it out to Jack for inspection he asked, "Will this amount suffice?"

"What'd you two rob a bank?" asked Jack as he realized that the large wad of bills was entirely made up of $100s.

Ignoring Jack's statement Sara asked, "Is this acceptable Jack Bruno?"

"How'd you know my name?" asked Jack becoming slightly suspicious about the two.

Sara simply raised her finger and pointed to the driver's license that was attached to his dashboard for inspection, making Jack feel rather embarrassed.

"If we have a deal for your services we must move forward rapidly," said Seth, his entire body leaning forward as if trying to demonstrate the urgency of the situation with more than just words. "It's urgent we get to our destination without delay."

Hearing the numerous honking horns behind him, Jack turned back to the front and decided. "Alright, alright I'm going." Glancing over his shoulder at his two passengers he asked, "Where to?" At his words the boy pulled some sort of handheld device out of his pocket and began pressing buttons on it. Growing impatient Jack said, "I need an address."

"We must travel in that direction," said Sara while pointing to the right and out the front window.

"Well, I'm gonna need something a little more specific than just 'that direction'," said Jack, his annoyance at the oddness of his passengers making him a little more snappish than usual.

Speaking up from his seat, Seth began giving Jack a more specific address. "We must locate latitude four-o-point-five-four, cross-intersecting longitude-"

Deciding it didn't really matter where he took the two teenagers as long as they didn't talk like that, Jack cut the boy off with a wave of his hand and said, "We're just gonna stick with that direction."

The many neon signs advertising the UFO convention that was being held at Planet Hollywood flashed by the taxi. Jack shook his head slightly and his eyes flickered to the rearview mirror, checking on his strange passengers again. They flicked away again just as quickly when he saw that the boy, Seth, was staring intently at him.

'Weird kid,' he thought before turning his attention back to the busy Los Vegas road in front of him.

The utter silence of the car was completely shattered a few minutes later when Jack's cell phone rang. Out of the corner of his eye Jack saw the two blondes jump in surprise at the sound but ignored it in favor of splitting his attention between the road and answering the phone. Ignoring the normal cab policy of simply turning his cell phone off while on duty, Jack kept his on, knowing that the only people who had his number would only call him in emergencies.

"Hello, this is Jack Bruno," answered Jack his worry showing on his face.

In the backseat Sara glanced at Seth causing him to look at her in return. Once she was sure she had his attention, she shook her head slightly and her eyes flickered from Seth to Jack and then back again.

Seth gave his sister a serious look and shook his head back at her before resuming his intense stare at Jack in the rearview mirror. Sara fought the urge to roll her eyes at her older brother's antics and let her eyes wander over the different signs that covered the sides of the streets as her thoughts wandered.

"Calm down, I'm coming. Don't worry I'll be there in five minutes." Jack's rushed and concerned voice brought Sara's attention back to the present. Snapping the phone shut, Jack began to put his taxi driving skills to good use. Within seconds they had left behind the overly crowded main streets and were speeding along back streets.

Realizing that they were now going in the wrong direction, Seth leaned forward and said, "This detour is unacceptable. We must get to our destination without delay."

His voice betraying his worry, Jack snapped back at him, "Yeah, well this detour is just something you're going to have to accept."

Seeing that her brother was not going to accept it quietly and that nothing would change Jack's new course, Sara calmly asked, "Where are we going Jack Bruno?"

Jack didn't bother to answer as he avoided another taxi that was traveling a good deal slower than theirs was. Barely making it through an intersection, Jack sent the cab careening around the street corner. The sheer speed of the turn sent Sara tumbling into Seth, who fell against his door.

Sitting up, Seth irately opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Jack stomping on the brake. The sudden loss of speed made Seth fall forward and hit his head on the back of Jack's seat.

As her brother pushed himself upright in his seat and rubbed his sore forehead, Sara asked, "Jack Bruno, why have we-" Sara abruptly stopped talking as the front passenger door opened and a girl who looked to be Seth's age climbed into the cab.

Sara's observant eyes scanned her immediately and memorized her face. Both the girl's hair and eyes were a brown so dark that they were almost black. She was wearing a red hoodie with a superman symbol on the pocket and a pair of dark blue jeans. Over her shoulder she carried a small black backpack, which she threw to the floor by her feet as she slammed the door shut.

The girl's skin, which looked like it was normally the same color as Jack's, was pale and Sara could tell from the way that the girl was holding her stomach, that she was most likely ill. Sara's eyes easily picked up on how the girl's shoulders trembled slightly and the worried look that Jack shot at her as he pulled back into mainstream traffic, this time heading in the direction they wanted.

Seth's eyes narrowed at the taxi's new passenger, while he was pleased that they were once again heading in the correct direction, he was not pleased with the fact that they had picked up another passenger. Leaning forward he opened his mouth, but closed it silently when he felt his sister's hand on his arm. Meeting his sister's eyes, he saw her shake her head as she gently applied pressure to his arm. Annoyed, but accepting his sister's judgment, Seth crossed his arms and leaned back against the seat.

The taxi drove in silence for a few minutes before Jack finally asked, "So what happened this time?"

Refusing to look at him the girl replied, "I just couldn't be around people anymore today."

"LIX," started Jack, his worry giving way slightly to annoyance as the events of the day started to catch up to him, "you can't keep doing this." Glancing at the girl, LIX, from the corner of his eye he continued, "If you keep giving up like this you'll never conquer it."

Her own ire growing but unable to think of anything to say, LIX simply glared at Jack. A second later she noticed the two sitting in the backseat and for a moment she just blinked in confusion at them.

"Who are you?" she asked her head tilted to the side as she twisted around in her seat so that she could face them.

Sara, seeing that this time her brother didn't seem to be in any hurry to introduce them, did it herself. "I am Sara. This is my brother Seth. We have arranged a deal for the use of Jack Bruno's transportation services."

Nodding her head slightly as she processed Sara's odd way of talking, LIX asked, "Really? Where're you guys going?"

"We must travel in that direction." As in the first time she said that, Sara pointed in the direction they wanted to go.

From beside her Jack mumbled under his breath, "Crazy teenagers and their ridiculous directions."

Laughing a little at Jack's obvious annoyance and his two passengers apparent obliviousness to it, LIX continued the conversation, "So how old are you two?"

Seeing that her brother was still unwilling to join in and busy glaring at the back of Jack's head, Sara said, "I am sixteen years old. Seth turned eighteen a month ago." Leaning forward slightly Sara asked in confusion, "Your name is Licks?"

"What? Oh, no." said LIX as she turned around so that she was kneeling in the front seat with her back to the dashboard. "My name's Alexia but everyone calls me LIX. Capital l, capital i, capital x; LIX."

Giving up on his glaring Seth finally joined in, "Your friends have given you the nickname '59' in Roman numerals?"

Startled by the fact that the silent blonde boy had actually been paying attention and was now talking to her, LIX simply stared at him for a good minute or so. Her attempt to formulate a reply wasn't helped by the fact that he had managed to figure out LIX meant '59' so quickly.

Sensing that an uncomfortable silence was about to descend, Jack decided to at least set one thing straight before it settled. "LIX, sit down properly and face forward." Ignoring her annoyed eye roll that hid the thankful smile he continued, "We'll be out of Los Vegas in a few minutes." Looking at Seth and Sara in his rearview mirror he asked, "Are we heading in the right direction?"

"Yes," said Seth his mind once again completely focused on reaching their destination. "We should reach our destination a little after nightfall."

"Alright," said Jack. He paused before adding, "We'll have to make a stop or two between here and there though."

Cutting her brother off before he could say anything Sara asked, "Will the stops be because LIX is ill?"

Silence seemed to utterly fill the cab, as both Jack and LIX appeared to freeze. They passed out of Los Vegas and the signs fell away into the bright sands of Nevada. Sara and Seth exchanged a glance and then turned their attention back to the two in front of them. Seth continuing his previous glaring at Jack's head and Sara observing every twitch that LIX made.

They drove for over an hour in utter and complete silence. In that time Seth's eyes never left Jack's reflection in the rearview mirror and Sara's continued to watch the girl in the seat in front of her. It was almost noon when LIX suddenly doubled over and started breathing heavily.

"Jack Bruno," Sara began, but she found it was unneeded as Jack had stopped the cab and was rubbing LIX's back in soothing circles with his hand.

Continuing to rub LIX's back in soothing circles, Jack gently nudged her towards the door. "Go on, I'll pick you up whenever you want," he said making her look up at him through her hair.

LIX gave him a small nod before turning and opening the door. As she was climbing out Jack called after her, "You should really leave your shoes behind this time."

LIX laughed at him, but kicked her shoes and socks off. "I'll catch up later." Turning to Seth and Sara she smiled and, tilting her head to the side slightly, added, "You two smell nice. I hope your still with Jack when I come back." Giving them all a happy little wave she turned around and took off running into the desert.

Jack reached across the passenger seat and pulled the door shut. Without a glance in the direction that LIX had gone, he started the cab back up and sped off down the highway.

"Jack Bruno," Sara's worried voice made Jack glance in the rearview mirror. The sight of Seth's disturbingly blue eyes staring at him greeted him since Sara was still staring out the window at the place where LIX had simply vanished into the glare of the sand. "Why did LIX leave in such a manner?" continued Sara, her eyes eventually turning to look at Jack's reflection.

With a shrug of his shoulders Jack replied, "LIX has some issues. She likes to run them off in the desert. Everybody's got their own form of stress relief, that's hers."

"Why did you have her leave her shoes behind?" asked Seth confusion making his brow crinkle.

"She ruins her shoes running in the sand with them." Trying to avoid the direction the conversation was headed down, Jack asked, "Your parents gonna be okay with you guys spending all this money?"

Leaning as far forward as his seatbelt would allow him Seth promptly said, "We had previously agreed upon our financial deal, if your concern is with regarding your compensation-"

"My concern is the fact that I got a couple of kids in the back of my cab and a big wad of cash with a drop off location that's pretty much in the middle of no where," said Jack rather pleased with himself that he'd successfully made the discussion head in a way that might get some of his questions answered. As he continued he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Sara for emphasis, "Now in my book that's a little chapter called running away."

In the back seat Seth sat back again and caught his sister's eye.

The taxi radio suddenly crackled to life and a man's voice spilled out of the small speaker. "Jack you better be getting desert miles on that fair. And they better be able to pay. And you better get me a-"

Whatever the man was going to say was cut off by Jack pressing the transmit button and saying, "There's interference Dominick."

"Jack, Jack?" called the man's voice before Jack switched the radio off altogether.

The two in the back seat looked at each other with expressions of fear on their faces before whirling around to look out the back window.

"Jack Bruno, the vehicles behind us are indicating a pattern of pursuit," said Sara, her normally calm voice giving way to a slightly more frantic one.

"There's no vehicles following-" started Jack, but he quickly fell silent at the sight of a black SUV in his rearview mirror.

In a tone that seemed oddly calm compared to his sister's yet still held a sense of urgency, Seth focused his gaze on Jack and said, "At your current rate of speed versus theirs they will overtake our vehicle in less than-"

"Relax kid," said Jack as he waved his hand dismissively hoping to ease the two teenagers' obvious fears, "I'm just going to let them pass."

With mixtures of both apprehension and fear on their faces Sara and Seth could only glance at each other before turning their attention back to the quickly gaining SUVs.

Jack slowly applied pressure to the brake pedal and the cab rapidly dropped from 60 mph to 30mph. The SUV quickly caught up but didn't make any move to pass. Seeing this, Jack rolled his window down and, sticking his arm out it, yelled, "Open road people. All yours." Seeing the SUV speed up and drive by him, Jack rolled his window back up.

As the SUV passed by, Seth tried to see through the dark tinted glass of the windows, but all he saw was his reflection.

Laying one of his arms across the back of the passenger seat, Jack confidently said, "See what'd I tell you, nobody's following us. I'm the king of these roads."

As soon as he finished speaking Sara pointed through the front window in warning, "Jack Bruno."

Biting back a curse, Jack put both of his hands on the wheel and quickly spun the car as he applied the brake so that they wouldn't ram head first into the now parked SUV. Glancing in the rearview mirror his urge to curse grew even more when he saw two more black SUVs behind and to either side of him. In his wild attempt to avoid ramming the parked SUV the cab was sent into a dizzying spin that took him a few minutes to stop. As soon as he had managed to straighten them out he took off around the parked SUV as fast as possible.

"I said I was out and I meant it," yelled Jack in frustration as he tried to make the small cab go even faster.

After glancing back at the still gaining SUVs, Sara asked very seriously, "Who is Victor Wolfe, Jack Bruno?"

"How do you know that?" asked Jack but he quickly forgot about receiving an answer as one of the SUVs rammed them in the rear bumper. Looking back at both the SUVs and the two teenagers Jack yelled, "Get down now!"

With only a quick glance at each other, the two obeyed immediately.

Jack's attention became focused completely on the road after that point as two of the SUVs pulled up alongside them and boxed them in. The two bigger cars pushed them back and forth across the road, squishing them. Attempting to get rid of at least one of them, Jack executed a maneuver that would most definitely have LIX berating him about being suicidal for a week or two.

But Jack figured she'd forgive him since they'd survived and the maneuver had gotten rid of not only one, but two of the SUVs.

"Jack Bruno it would appear that we have not eluded them," said Sara after she and Seth had sat upright once again and looked out the back window to see one SUV still following them.

Looking in the rearview mirror to confirm what Sara had said, Jack angrily shook his head. "I am so over this. Stay down. Stay down!"

The two obediently hunched back down in their seats but the feel of Seth's eyes on her made Sara concentrate on him instead of the situation they were in. Realizing what he planned to do her eyes widened and she whispered, "Seth no. It's not a good idea."

Shaking his head slightly Seth whispered back, "I have to try."

"It's too dangerous," whispered Sara, her eyes almost pleading for Seth to give up his idea. Before she could say anything else he was gone. Melting through the seat as if it wasn't even there.

As the taxi continued moving, it left a kneeling Seth in the middle of the road. Turning around slowly as he stood up, he placed himself directly in the path of the speeding SUV. Standing as straight and as tall as he could, he took a deep breath and the SUV smashed into him.

Pieces of shrapnel went flying everywhere as the entire front of the vehicle crumpled in on itself from the force of the impact. In the middle of the small hurricane of debris, stood Seth. He hadn't moved an inch from where he'd been standing. The SUVs momentum sent it up into the air, flipping over Seth's head to land in a broken heap behind him.

Watching from her seat in the taxi, Sara saw the SUV crash and land broken in a heap. Turning back to the front she took control of the cab from Jack and, placing it in reverse, made it drive all the way up to the crashed SUV. Jack cursing his malfunctioning cab the whole way.

As soon as they had stopped Jack glanced around, slightly disconcerted by the taxi's behavior. Without looking at them Jack asked, "You two okay?"

Sara answered, "We are-" but was cut off by Seth melting through the cab door and back into his seat.

Out of breath he panted, "We should…just… keep…moving."

His sister's worried glare on his back made Seth focus his attention on her for a moment, but Jack's sudden departure from the cab made him break eye contact.

"Stay here," said Jack as he grabbed a tire iron from under his seat. The two teenagers watched him walk to the broken window of the SUV, but couldn't hear what was said.

Climbing back into the cab, Jack took no time in speeding away. He was quite happy to put some distance between them and those SUVs. Once he thought they were a safe distance away he asked, "How you two holding up back there?"

Glancing at her still heavily breathing brother Sara responded, "We're fine."

"Sorry I dragged you two into all this," said Jack. He figured that the SUVs were either after them because of him or LIX.

Jack glanced up into the rearview mirror at the two. His eyes lingered on Sara for only a moment, while they rested on Seth with barely concealed worry for a much longer period of time. The blonde boy was leaning back against his seat and he was breathing hard as if he was trying to catch his breath after a long run.

Jack's worried starring was only stopped when Sara suddenly pointed to the road in front of them and said, "Jack Bruno, you must brake immediately."

Jack returned his eyes to the road and did exactly as Sara had told him to. The speed of the cab's stop once again sent Sara and Seth falling forward, only their seatbelts keeping them from getting hurt.

Only ten feet in front of the now parked taxi stood the barefoot LIX. Her clothes were covered in dust and she had pulled her dark brown hair up into a ponytail. She gave them a tired smile and began trudging towards them.

"Jack Bruno," began Sara, her eyes following LIX's progress around the hood of the cab, "how is it that LIX has reached this location before us?"

Smiling to himself slightly he replied, "She's just special like that."

Sara saw LIX yawn as she approached the door, one of her hands rubbing her eyes tiredly. Glancing over at her still slightly panting brother, Sara unbuckled and opened her door, startling everyone. Smiling at LIX she said, "LIX, you may sit in my seat and rest."

LIX blinked at her for a moment, her tired mind processing the words a little slower than usual. "Um, thanks." Stepping past Sara she slid into the backseat next to Seth and buckled herself in. Sara closed the door for her and sat down in the front beside Jack.

Shaking her head a little as she yawned, LIX looked at Jack in the rearview mirror and with her head tilted to the side asked, "What happened to the cab? It looks like you got in a fight with another vehicle."

Smirking at her in the mirror as he restarted the cab, Jack replied, "We kind of did." Growing more serious he continued, "It was probably my fault." Glancing at Sara sitting beside him he added, "Sorry you guys."

"There's no need for you to apologize Jack Bruno," said Sara. "You are not always the one to blame."

"But the urgency of our trip has not decreased," added Seth as he leaned forward, his breathing much more regular now.

"Don't worry I'll get you two where you need to go," said Jack. Glancing back at Seth he added, "You've earned it." His eyes flicking to LIX he said, "LIX you should take a nap or something. You look like you're about to fall over."

"I'm fine," said LIX unconvincingly and she covered her mouth as another yawn escaped her.

"You should rest if you are tired LIX," said Sara. She had turned in her seat slightly so that she could see the backseat. Her eyes were focused on LIX, ignoring her brother who was glaring at her.

LIX looked like she was going to argue, but she simply gave Sara a smile and nodded. Without another word she closed her eyes and laid her head back against the seat.

Seth glanced at the girl beside him and then turned to look at his sister. The small smile she was giving him made goose bumps appear on his arms and a shiver run down his spine. Seth quickly looked away from the overly innocent smile that always indicated his sister knew something he did not.

"LIX?" called Jack, but the teenager didn't respond.

"Quiet Jack Bruno," said Sara softly with a smile as she turned to face forward again. "She is sleeping."

In the backseat Seth resumed his previous glaring, this time at the back of his sister's head. A hole in the road shook the entire cab and made Seth bounce in his seat.

"Seth, catch her," ordered Sara, drawing her brother's attention to the sleeping LIX. The bump in the road had dislodged her from her place against the seat and she was rapidly sliding sideways towards Seth.

Completely caught off guard, Seth sat frozen as LIX fell over. He let out a soft "Ah!" as her head landed in his lap.

In the front seat Sara could only giggle at the fact that her brother was blushing. When he made to move LIX off of his lap, Sara stopped him saying, "Oh, leave her Seth. She looks so comfortable there." She had to really work to suppress her giggles as; Seth obeyed her order, but blushed even more.

Jack let out a small chuckle of his own when he glanced in the rearview mirror. He found the image of LIX lying in a blushing Seth's lap both cute and amusing. Though the fact that the boy was blushing made him extremely aware of the fact that he was, in fact, a teenaged boy. After all, in the few hours since he had met the blonde boy, he'd only ever seen him with a serious expression on his face. It was rather easy to forget the boy's age.

As the cab continued down the lonely highway, Jack decided he'd simply watch the boy for now. No reason to jump to conclusions and become overly protective just because of a little blushing.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Helping Hand**

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Race to Witch Mountain or it's characters. The only things that I can claim as my own are LIX and the additions and changes that occur to the story's plot because of her presence. Though I really wish I could say that I owned Seth as well. Darn it.

**Chapter Two**

The cab had been speeding along the deserted highway for over four hours, and Seth was beginning to lose all feeling in one of his legs. He glanced down at the girl lying in his lap for the tenth time in not as many minutes, wishing she would wake up so that he could move. Feeling someone's eyes on him, he looked up to see that Sara had turned around and was looking at him and that Jack was watching him in the rearview mirror. He frowned at the two, but that only seemed to make them smile. Seeing the smiles, Seth felt another shiver run down his spine and he quickly averted his eyes. A sudden movement on his lap made him focus his attention downwards again.

With her eyes still closed, LIX let out a content purr as she wrapped her arms around the warmest thing near her. Her purr growing louder, she nuzzled her face into it before a surprised yelp made her open her eyes. Blinking slowly in both surprise and sleepiness, LIX found herself starring up into Seth's face.

"Um, hello," said LIX as she starred at him.

Seth didn't say anything in reply and simply remained frozen as LIX looked from her arms that were wrapped around his waist, to his stomach that she had just been nuzzling. Looking back up at his face, she stared at him wide eyed before blinking again, her face taking on a slightly pink tinge.

Without another word she pulled herself free and sat upright. Both of them ignoring the giggling and the chuckling emitting from the front seat they proceeded to stare out their windows.

In the front seat of the cab, both Jack and Sara were having trouble keeping their laughter quiet. After a few minutes, they managed to restrain themselves to simple smiles.

Looking from side to side, her smile changing, Sara announced, "We're here Jack Bruno."

"Here?" asked Jack incredulously, his own smile disappearing. "There's nothing here." As he spoke they drove over the top of a ridge, revealing an extremely old and decrepit house on the other side.

Leaning forward over the top of Sara's seat LIX, apparently over her embarrassing moment, cheerfully said, "Yes there is." Jack glanced at her when she paused before saying, "There's an old shack in the middle of nowhere."

Ignoring both Jack and LIX's comments, Seth turned from looking at the "shack" to look at his sister, who was smiling happily at him. Unlike the previous smile, Seth only got a sense of happiness from this one.

"Somebody's expecting you two right?" asked Jack, unwilling to leave the two all alone in the middle of nowhere. "Doesn't look like anyone's home."

"Don't worry Jack Bruno," said Sara, her voice reflecting the happiness that was on her face, "we'll soon be reunited with relatives."

"Okay." Jack took a deep breath, deciding to simply accept it and let them go, and read them the amount they owed. "Seven hundred twenty dollars and fifty cents. But after everything that went down today how 'bout I knock off twenty percent and I also-"

The sound of two of the cab's doors opening stopped Jack from continuing as well as the large wad of bills that Seth suddenly shoved in his hand with a hasty, "Here." The two sprinted the short distance between the cab and the front door, disappearing inside.

"Okay then," said Jack, slightly surprised at the speed with which the two had gotten out of the cab, "good-bye to you too."

"They sure left in a hurry," said LIX as she starred at the spot where the two had disappeared.

Ignoring LIX, Jack flicked through the money and quickly estimated how much the teenagers had given him. "Five hundred percent tip. That's reasonable."

Rolling her eyes at Jack's indecision about what to do, LIX pulled the money from his hand and, climbing out of the backseat, followed the path Seth and Sara had taken to the front door.

With an exasperated, yet slightly thankful sigh, Jack unbuckled and followed.

"Hey, you guys over paid!" called LIX, attempting to get one of the two to come back outside.

"By a lot," added Jack.

For a moment nothing happened and Jack was tempted to just give it up and return to the cab. The sound of glass breaking a few feet away, made both LIX and Jack jump slightly in surprise.

"Everything okay in here?" asked Jack as he pushed the front door open, LIX following right behind him.

"Something's not right," murmured LIX, her face showing her unease.

"What is it?" asked Jack as he picked up a broken table leg and held it as a makeshift club.

"Something in here stinks." LIX's face was extremely pale and she was holding one hand over her nose and the other over her stomach. "It smells like something's rotting."

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but a small noise from behind the broken couch caught his attention and in an instant he had swung the broken table leg down. He felt it impact with the back of the couch, but when he peered over the edge he saw it stuck between Seth's shoulder and the couch.

Utterly confused and bewildered Jack mumbled partially to himself, "What just happened?"

Seth quickly shushed him with a hand over his mouth.

"Jack Bruno, LIX, you should not have jeopardized your lives by following us," said Sara her face once again filled with worry.

"What kind of trouble are you two in?" asked Jack, crouching down so that he could hear the two's whispered voices better. LIX remained standing beside him, her eyes darting around the room wildly.

"I suggest you return back to your vehicle," said Seth with a determined look. "Your services are no longer required."

"They're just trying to help," said Sara.

"Somebody's already been here looking for it," said Seth turning away from Jack so that he could make eye contact with his sister. "We can't trust anyone. Just us Sara." His voice was quiet and thick with emotion as he finished.

Sara nodded once to show that she understood. "We appreciate your efforts to assist us Jack Bruno, LIX, but my brother's right, we can involve you no further."

"Got it," exclaimed Seth excitedly as the machine he had been messing with beeped. Nodding to his sister he said, "Let's go."

"Hey, just tell me what's going on," demanded Jack, only to be ignored as Seth and Sara raced out of the room.

Making sure to grab the broken table leg, Jack quickly stood and followed after them, LIX a few steps behind. Glancing at LIX Jack worriedly asked, "You think you're gonna be okay?"

LIX gave him an abrupt nod. "Be fine." Her sentence structure suffered from the fact that she was trying extremely hard not to breathe.

Understanding, Jack nodded and made his way into the run down kitchen. With wide eyes he watched as Seth placed the strange machine he'd been messing with earlier on the side of the fridge and the fridge became the opening for a tunnel. The two blonde teenagers disappeared into the dark entrance followed a moment later by LIX.

Sighing softly to himself Jack commented to nobody, "Don't go in the pimped out fridge Jack."

Catching up to the teenagers in a cellar he saw Seth repeat the process of opening a hidden tunnel that was in the wall. This time he didn't pause to follow behind them, the broken table leg clutched tightly in his hand. Upon reaching the end of the second tunnel they entered what appeared to be a large underground cavern filled with plants. For a few minutes they all simply stood and stared, the strange glowing stalagmites putting them in a daze.

"What is this place?" asked Jack eventually. His voice seemed to break them out of their daze, but he didn't receive an answer.

Focusing on his machine again, Seth pressed a few more buttons and said, "This way." At his word, Sara quickly followed him off into the dense vegetation.

Still slightly stuck in the daze of the oddness of the cave, Jack had to run to catch up to them. LIX meandering along behind him, her hand still pressed firmly to her nose.

Seth's machine beeped more and more rapidly as he approached one of the glowing stalagmites. Running it over the surface, the machine went crazy trying to beep continually. Unable to contain his excitement Seth cried out, "Sara, it's here!"

Running to catch up to him, Sara was there in seconds, followed closely by Jack and LIX. She glanced at Seth and, after receiving a nod, removed her necklace. Placing the pendant on the top of the stalagmite, she took a deep breath and then plunged her arm into the sticky thing. A second later she pulled it out again, with a small machine held firmly in her hand.

For a moment, all Sara and Seth could do was stare at the small machine with looks of wonder and happiness on their faces. Looking at her brother, Sara smiled happily before returning her joyful gaze to the machine.

"What is it?" asked Jack, so thoroughly confused that he wasn't sure which way was 'up' right now. Behind him LIX moved closer to them, making their group smaller her eyes scanning the area.

"It is what we came for Jack Bruno," said Sara, her voice breathy with the sheer happiness that she was feeling. Her eyes practically glowed with joy.

"Is anyone else looking for it?" asked Jack, effectively bringing both Sara and Seth back down from their happy high. "Like the person who trashed everything upstairs?"

"We think so," said Seth completely back in his serious mode. "It is very valuable. Which is why it was vital we locate it first."

Knowing that the two teenagers probably hadn't thought everything through yet Jack asked, "What makes you so sure that whatever else wanted it, isn't still looking for it?" The look on Seth's face told him that they had hoped the other person would have at least moved on to look somewhere else.

"They are still looking for it," murmured LIX, drawing everyone's attention. She glanced at them before adding, "They were waiting for you to find it. Here they come."

The sound of something moving above them made them all cringe slightly. "Go, go," whispered Jack, urging them to crouch and head towards the exit. Lifting the table leg Jack stood, ready to try and fight off whatever was coming.

At Jack's insistence, the three teenagers moved out of the clearing so that they were hidden in the foliage. Hearing the movements getting louder and closer, the four made a circle with their backs to each other. A sudden movement a few yards in front of Jack made him yell, "Run, run, run!" Without hesitating the three took off, crashing through the vegetation.

Not thinking about exactly 'what' it was that he was charging towards, Jack took off running in the direction that the noises were coming from. Bursting into the clearing where Seth and Sara had found the machine, Jack found himself facing something tall and gray. Making the instantaneous decision to figure out what it was later, Jack swung his broken table leg at the thing's head like a baseball bat. The blow did absolutely nothing and a second later Jack found himself flying through the air, courtesy of the thing's fist.

Struggling to regain his breath from his impact with the ground, Jack pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled beneath some bushes. Having hidden himself from sight, he lay there quietly as the gray thing walked towards where he had fallen. It stopped a few feet away from where he lay hidden and simply stood looking this way and that.

Looking around, the gray thing raised its right arm and pointed it at one of the glowing stalactites. As Jack watched, a small panel opened in the thing's wrist and a small cannon looking thing popped out. The cannon fired a blue ball of energy at the stalactite, which erupted into flames. As the stalactite exploded, Jack heard Seth and Sara's surprised yelps echo from the other side of the cavern.

The gray thing, also hearing the noise, turned and began heading in that direction.

Knowing that their position had just been given away, the three teenagers moved, trying to get back to the cavern's entrance.

"Jack Bruno!" yelled Sara, catching sight of the cab driver, she steered the three towards him.

"Kids!" shouted Jack. Another explosion right behind the three teenagers made Sara scream and cover her ears as LIX pulled her shirt over her nose. Seth pushed the two girls deeper into the vegetation as fire rapidly spread behind them from stalactite to stalactite.

"Go, go, go Sara!" yelled Seth, pushing his sister faster, LIX right behind him.

A stalagmite exploding two feet away from them sent the three flying through the air to land in a confused heap. Struggling quickly to their feet, the three took off again.

Seeing Jack again, Sara called out, "Jack Bruno!" but the gray thing suddenly appeared from behind her and knocked the machine they had retrieved from her hand. "Seth!" cried Sara, hoping her older brother could help her, but the thing just batted him away. "No!" cried Sara, tears actually forming in her eyes at the sight of her brother sent flying through the air.

Turning it's attention away from the two blondes, the gray thing bent down to pick up the machine it had knocked from Sara's hand, only to have the machine zoom through the air right back into her hand. Focusing all of its attention on the small blonde girl that it now perceived as a threat, the gray thing completely missed LIX running at it from the side to tackle it. The force of her lunge took the two deep into the foliage where neither Seth nor Sara could see them.

"LIX!" yelled Sara, beginning to run towards where the two had disappeared, worried about the girl. Jack's hand suddenly appearing on her arm stopped her though.

"Come on," said Jack out of breath from running. "Let's get out of here while we can."

Unwilling to move because of the danger LIX was in Sara asked, "What about LIX?"

Pulling her along almost effortlessly, Jack hurriedly said, "She'll be fine. It'd take more than that thing to hurt her."

Giving in despite their uneasiness, the two blondes quickly followed Jack back to cavern's entrance.

Jack motioned for them to keep running, but Sara shook her head, "No. We should wait to make sure LIX is all right."

"What about that thing you two worked so hard to get?" asked Jack, pointing at the machine clutched tightly in Sara's hand. "Shouldn't you make sure that's safe first?"

Seeing his sister's torn expression Seth jumped in, "I will wait and begin closing the portal." Turning to Sara he added, "Sara, you must keep it safe. I will join you after LIX returns."

Nodding to show that she understood, Sara took off down the tunnel, Jack right on her heels.

"LIX!" yelled Seth as he pulled the door to the tunnel partially closed. He starred through the opening, looking for any sign of the girl, as a massive explosion shook the entire cavern. Clutching the door tightly he saw LIX break through the vegetation running towards him, her shoes were missing and her jacket was ripped and singed.

Passing through she paused, but Seth pushed her farther into the tunnel yelling, "I will close the portal. Run!"

LIX nodded and, turning, ran around the corner.

Turning his attention away from LIX's retreating figure back to the door, Seth focused on forcing the heavy thing shut. Grunting with the effort of trying to make the thing move, Seth glanced up and froze momentarily. There, standing only a few feet away was the gray thing, his cannon-gun raised and ready to fire. Shaking himself into action, Seth managed to heave the door shut so that only a small crack was left open.

As he struggled with closing that final crack, he glanced up, just in time to see the thing fire. The door took the brunt of the blast, but the remaining portion that hit him, sent Seth flying into the opposite wall. Lying limp and in pain, he quickly lost consciousness.

"Seth!" screamed Sara as she heard the loud explosion. She tried to turn around and head back the way she had come, but Jack stopped her.

Lifting the struggling teenager over his shoulder Jack yelled back down the tunnel at LIX, "You get Seth. I'll meet you at the cab!"

LIX said nothing in reply, since she was already on her way back, and simply ran faster. Sliding around the final corner, she quickly took in the sight of the partially blasted away door and the unmoving Seth lying on the floor. Seeing the gray thing approaching through the blasted portion of the door, LIX wasted no time in lifting Seth's body up over her shoulders in the fireman's carry and racing back up the tunnel.

She had just exited the fridge when another large explosion rocked the area. Shifting Seth's weight on her shoulders, LIX ran out of the house and into what appeared to be a minefield made up of multicolored bombs. Dodging between the explosions she managed to reach the idling cab. Sara, sitting in the front passenger seat again, had opened the back door in preparation for her and she quickly slid in, setting Seth in the seat beside her. The instant the door was shut, Jack had stomped on the gas and they were off like a bullet. Putting as much distance as possible between them and the run down house with all of its abnormalities.

Though she was buckled in the front seat, worry for her brother made Sara sit in the same position that LIX had earlier in their trip, with her knees in the seat and her back to the dashboard. She watched with concerned eyes as LIX carefully buckled first Seth then herself. Seeing that he was lying against the door with his head in a rather uncomfortable position, LIX repositioned him till he was lying across the backseat with his head in her lap. Finished with her fiddling, LIX turned her attention upwards and was met with first Sara's worried eyes and then the reflection of Jack's amused ones.

"What?" asked LIX as Jack raised his eyebrow in question.

"Nothing," said Jack with a small grin.

Feeling the need to explain herself LIX said, "I just thought I'd return the favor for earlier."

"Oh, you mean when you were asleep on his lap?" asked Jack the small smile still on his lips.

"Um, yes," said LIX. Feeling like it wasn't enough she added, "He also looked really uncomfortable and he isn't exactly 'taking a nap' like I was."

"True, true," agreed Jack as he nodded his eyes having returned to the road. Glancing at her in the rearview mirror he added, "But that doesn't explain why you're petting his hair."

"Eh?" said LIX her head tilting to the side in confusion. At Jack's insistent stare she glanced down to see that she was indeed petting the unconscious boy's hair. "Oh," said LIX intelligently as she moved her hand away, "I didn't know I was doing that."

"It is alright LIX," said Sara quietly, her worried look had disappeared after watching Seth lay peacefully in LIX's lap.

Turning her questioning gaze to the blonde girl, LIX tilted her head to the side again, but didn't say anything.

Giving the confused girl a smile, Sara said, "I am sure my brother would not mind having you pet his hair."

Jack laughed at Sara's statement, making LIX blush slightly and turn her gaze away from them and out the window. Sharing a smile with Jack, Sara twisted herself around so that she was sitting correctly in her seat again. In the back of the cab, her eyes still trained on the dark nothingness that was outside the window, LIX's hand found it's way back to Seth's head and resumed it's previous motion without it's owner's awareness.

The cab drove on in silence for a few minutes before Jack glanced in the rearview mirror again and, with a chuckle that made Sara look back as well, said, "LIX, you're doing it again."

Looking down at her hand, LIX blushed bright red, but it disappeared quickly. "Oh, what the hell." She gave a small shrug simply let her hand continue it's movement back and forth, letting her fingers run through the blonde strands.

"Is my brother's hair particularly soft?" asked Sara, a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Starring down at her hand and the unconscious boy, LIX shrugged again and said, "I don't know how soft most guys' hair is, but Seth's hair is pretty soft."

Chuckling again Jack asked, "Well how is Seth doing?"

A low moan filled the cab at Jack's words as Seth's eyes gently fluttered open. Finally managing to focus his eyes and realizing exactly why he was starring up at LIX's face, Seth blushed and sat upright.

"Seth, how are you feeling?" asked Sara worry once again showing on her face.

"I am fine," said Seth as he rubbed his head a little.

"Well I'm happy you're feeling better," said Jack as the humor drained from his face, "cause you're going to need your strength to explain to me exactly what just happened back there!"

Seth and Sara looked at each other with unsure looks as LIX simply rolled her eyes at Jack's unique ability to change the subject.

After making that statement Jack brought the cab to a gentle stop and turned it off. Turning so that he could see both Seth and Sara at the same time he said, "So here's the deal, the cab doesn't move until your mouths do. So start talking."

"The information you are seeking is not within your grasp of understanding," said Seth making Jack focus his attention on him.

"We are dealing with issues outside the realm of your…world," added Sara when Jack and LIX didn't move to say anything after Seth's statement.

"Hey, I'm a cab driver in Las Vegas," said Jack making LIX stifle a giggle. "Okay, I have plenty of worldly experien-" Stopping mid-word as something caught his eye Jack suddenly asked, "What is that?"

Turning to see what he was starring at, the three teens saw a bright blue light heading towards them.

"Sara!" yelled Seth, his voice filled with panic. "We have to go!"

Nodding Sara turned towards the front and made a motion with her hand. The cab jumped to life suddenly making Jack start in surprise as he grabbed the wheel.

"What is it?" asked Jack.

Still starring out the back window, LIX replied, "It looks like a weird plane."

The 'weird plane' suddenly shot the road in front of them, making Jack swerve as the three teens hunched over in their seats.

"Hang on!" yelled Jack as he drove the cab off the road and down a hill. Seeing some train tracks at the bottom of the incline Jack headed towards them. Turning off the cab's lights, Jack drove them into a small tunnel and parked in the center of it.

As the cab stopped, Seth leaned forward and quietly said, "We can't let him destroy it Sara."

Sara nodded but didn't say anything.

LIX opened her mouth to interject something but was cut off by Jack's low voice asking, "Who is he? And this time I need real answers."

"It's a Siphon," said Sara, her voice fearful at the very name of it.

"What?" asked LIX.

"An assassin trained to pursue his target until his mission is completed," said Seth, clearing up exactly what a Siphon was.

"And his mission is?" asked Jack.

Before either Seth or Sara could answer, LIX said, "You two."

As she said it twin blue lights appeared on the ground in front of the tunnel, searching for them. The entire cab held it's breath as the lights got closer and closer. They knew the flimsy metal that surrounded them could never withstand the Siphon's weapons.

In the back of the cab, LIX's hand moved sideways till it made contact with warmth and then latched on, squeezing tightly. Seth feeling something gripping his hand glanced down to see LIX's hand placed in his. Glancing back up at her face, he realized she didn't even know it was there.

"Jack Bruno," breathed Sara, her voice utterly terrified.

"I know," whispered Jack, his hand slowly reaching for the key still hanging in the ignition. Just as he was getting ready to turn it, the lights stopped moving and then retreated altogether, making everyone sigh in relief.

Feeling warmth around her hand, LIX looked down to see her hand in Seth's without any recollection of having put it there. Blushing slightly she pulled it free and mumbled, "Sorry 'bout that."

Not quite sure what to do, Seth replied, "Um, it's okay."

Turning the key, Jack started the cab up and, with the lights still off, drove them out of the tunnel. They followed the tracks in silence for a while until they were eventually on a bridge.

Breaking the silence Sara softly asked, "Is there a safer route Jack Bruno?"

Glancing at Sara and seeing a fin break the fog beneath the bridge behind her, Jack quietly responded, "Not unless you know how to fly." At Jack's reply the three teens traded worried looks as Jack himself continued to glance past Sara into the mist.

A second later the weird plane erupted from the mist beneath he bridge and proceeded to shoot, missing them by only a few feet. Screaming, Sara curled into a ball in the front seat and covered her head with her arms. In the back, Seth and LIX clung to their seats as every explosion rocked the tiny cab.

"Stay down!" yelled Jack, as he finally managed to get them off the bridge. The cab entered another, longer tunnel, but this time the weird plane followed them in.

Seeing that the plane had followed them, Seth worriedly said, "Jack Bruno."

"Come on baby hold it together," muttered Jack to his beat up cab, trying to make it go faster. A sudden light in front of them, accompanied by the sound of a train's horn, made Jack yell, "Oh, come on!"

Realizing that they wouldn't make it out of the tunnel in time at their current rate of speed, Seth started yelling, "Faster, faster, faster!" with LIX joining in.

"It won't go any faster," yelled Jack, seeing that the speedometer was stuck on 100mph.

Turning to his sister Seth yelled, "Sara!"

Uncurling from her spot on the front seat, Sara made a movement with her hand and the entire cab shot forward, the speedometer rapidly changing from 100mph to 140mph.

Screams and yells of terror filled the cab as the exit to the tunnel came into view with the train only a few yards away from it. Sara pushed the cab even faster and they shot out of the tunnel just as the train entered it, barely missing the huge machine. A large explosion from behind them let them know that the weird plane had not gotten out of the tunnel in time as they had. A growing fireball following them, they quickly drove away from the crash.

Jack drove off road for a while till he managed to find a highway. Parking, he climber out and dislocated the tracking device that was placed in the engines of all taxicabs.

"We can't trust them," whispered Seth in his sister's ear, leaning forward in an attempt to make it so that LIX wouldn't be able to hear him.

"We can. We must," Sara whispered back, her eyes darting from Jack's figure outside to LIX's sitting beside Seth.

Speaking up LIX said, "You two do know that I can hear you right?" Seeing Seth's surprised look she added, "I've got good ears. Whether it's whispering or talking, if it's anywhere in near the cab, I can hear it."

Jack slammed the hood of the cab down, breaking off any reply that Seth or Sara might have given.

As Jack sat back down Sara began, "We know you are frustrated Jack Bruno-"

"No," said Jack, holding up his hand to stop her. "No more Jack Bruno this. Jack Bruno that. I've been asking for answers."

"You know the answers," said Sara trying again. "My brother and I," Seth starred at his sister but she continued, "are indeed not from your planet."

Laughing Jack said, "So that's it." He turned around so he could see the two siblings at once. "Mystery solved! You two want me to believe that you're both aliens?"

"My sister tells the truth," said Seth growing slightly annoyed.

"Really?" said Jack. "Well you don't look like aliens."

"What does an alien look like Jack Bruno?" asked Sara, upset that Jack wouldn't believe her.

"You know what aliens look like!" exclaimed Jack. "They look like little green people with antennas and laser guns, and 'take me to your leader earthlings', umoh."

"Jack," said LIX shaking her head at his ridiculous statement, "nobody knows what aliens look like, because nobody's ever met one."

"You require some sort of proof," said Sara. Turning to Seth she added, "He is worried we are insulting his intelligence."

"Ya think! You can't just drop the 'we're aliens' bomb just like that on somebody. Now I know I've seen a few weird things today, but you can't expect me to believe-" As Jack began his rant Sara sighed and lifted her hand into the air. As she did so all of the loose items in the cab started to levitate making Jack fall silent.

Seeing that Jack wasn't about to start ranting again, Sara said, "I have the ability to move objects with my mind."

"That's impossible," said Jack looking from her to the stuff floating around him.

"No, it's quite possible," said Sara, "On our planet as well as yours. You just don't do it because you haven't learned to use your full brain capacity."

"No," said Jack slowly, "I don't do it cause it's kinda creepy. And I'd really like you to stop."

Looking at the objects in the air, Sara turned her hand over and everything fell to the floor.

Rolling her eyes at Jack's low tolerance for the abnormal, LIX simply said, "Cool." Making both Seth and Sara turn to look at her.

"You are not troubled by the fact that we are aliens?" asked Sara.

"Nope," said LIX with a grin. "I think it's great."

"That does not necessarily mean that you believe us though," said Seth, making his sister frown at his pessimistic statement.

"Why should we believe you?" asked Jack. Both Seth and Sara stared at him incredulously; Sara had just levitated things in front of him. "I mean, you could just be government experiments or something," continued Jack. "They could have messed with your genetics and given you powers. Then you wouldn't be aliens."

"I believe them," said LIX giving Jack a hard look.

Jack was silent for a moment before he finally said, "Okay, you're aliens. Why are you on Earth?"

"Why are you changing your mind so easily Jack Bruno?" asked Seth his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I believe, so he believes you," said LIX. "It's easier for him if he just doesn't think about things like this." Jack rolled his eyes at her, but kept silent.

"Why would a government do such a thing?" asked Sara unwilling to give up Jack's previous statement. "Why would you believe that theory over the fact that we are aliens?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Jack throwing his hands in the air for emphasis, "maybe because our government is sick and twisted and set on creating super soldiers."

A gasp from beside him made everyone look at Sara. Turning around slowly till she was looking at LIX, she said, "You were a government experiment."

Jack gaped open mouthed at the blonde girl for a moment, before snapping worried eyes to the backseat. Seth was starring at LIX with a mixture of emotions on his face, while LIX herself was starring at Sara. Her face was pale and she looked terrified.

"H-how d-do you know that?" stuttered LIX her eyes wide.

"My sister also has the ability to read the thoughts of those close to her," said Seth.

Tears actually slipped from Sara's eyes as she whispered, "They made you…and 'conditioned' you…till you escaped."

"LIX," mumbled Jack worried about how she'd react to her secret being revealed.

Not looking at any of them, LIX pushed the cab door open and sprinted away, disappearing into the shadows.

"LIX!" yelled Jack after her, but she was already gone.

Looking back at Jack, Sara softly said, "I am sorry for upsetting LIX, Jack Bruno. I did not mean to."

Sighing Jack shook his head and started the cab up again. "It's alright. She just needs some time to herself."

"Why did she run?" asked Seth a confused and worried look on his face.

"She's afraid you'll think she's a monster," replied Jack his eyes trained on the road ahead. "She likes you two, she doesn't want you to think of her like that."

"We don't Jack Bruno," said Sara firmly, her conviction bringing a smile to Jack's face. "LIX is not a monster, she is a just a teenage girl."

"My thoughts exactly," said Jack. After a moment he added, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you two earlier."

"It is alright Jack Bruno," said Sara. "It is a hard thing to believe." Her face growing curious she asked, "Why did you only believe us after LIX said she believed us?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Jack just said, "She's got a good nose. She can smell lies. You weren't lying. She also said you smelled nice earlier, that basically means you're nice kids and that she trusts you."

"She can determine a person's base character simply from smell?" asked Seth incredulously.

"She's had a lot of practice," said Jack.

Sensing that Jack did not want to answer any more questions on the subject Seth asked, "How will LIX locate our position if we continue?"

"She's a smart girl," said Jack nodding his head as he continued driving. "She'll find us the same way she found us earlier."

"LIX is a good tracker, is she not?" asked Sara.

"You could say that," said Jack.

The cab fell into silence as they drove the dark. Each of them lost in their own thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

I will keep this short, but I apologize for the amount of time it took me to complete this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be up faster, but knowing myself I will make no promises for speed. However, while I may not be fast I hope everyone enjoys the story and know that this will never become an abandoned story. I could never leave it unfinished. That said please review, it motivates me to write more faster.

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Race to Witch Mountain or it's characters. The only things that I can claim as my own are LIX and the additions and changes that occur to the story's plot because of her presence.

**Chapter 3**

It was around 9:30 when Jack drove the cab into the small town of Stony Creek. Spotting an Auto Repair shop with a light shining from an open garage door, Jack pulled in. Parking the cab, Jack climbed out, Seth and Sara following him.

"Hello?" called Jack, slamming his door shut. "Anybody here?"

"We're closed," mumbled a voice from behind a table. Turning towards it the three saw a short Mexican man reclining on a chair with a hat pulled down over his eyes as if he was sleeping.

"There you are," muttered Jack to himself. Louder he continued, "Yeah, I know you're closed, but we've been experiencing a little bit of car trouble so-"

"Still closed," said the man as he began to sit up. "You should experience your car trouble while we're open."

"I'll work on that next time," said Jack, his patience quickly running out. "This time I really need you to make sure the-"

"Jack Bruno," interrupted Sara, speaking up from where she had been standing silently beside him, "the only thing that will convince Eddie Cortez to reopen for business is a significant amount of money."

Peering closely at Sara, Eddie asked, "Hey wait a minute. Do I know you?"

Shaking his head Jack quickly said, "Nope, absolutely not. You don't know them from anywhere."

With his eyes still fixed on the two blondes, Eddie began to walk around the table. Pulling a wad of cash from his pocket, Jack quickly said, "I'll pay you double your rate."

"Triple," said Eddie.

Shocking Eddie, Jack simply nodded and said, "Done."

Taking a closer look at the vehicle he was now going to be working on, Eddie asked, "What, did you get in a fight with a rhinoceros?" Looking back at Jack he chuckled, "Poor rhino."

Laughing Jack agreed, "Poor rhino, I know."

Thinking they should join in, Sara and Seth also began laughing, but stopped at a look from Jack.

Shaking his head Eddie muttered, "I don't know where to start."

Glad to have a topic he knew something about Jack immediately answered, "Well where you could start is with the front shocks and the tie rods. Patch up the radiator, fix up the exhaust and if you have four tires I'll take those too. Oh and you have one hour."

As he finished the side mirror fell off, making them all look at it. Eddie glanced at the beat up cab and then back to him and raising an eyebrow repeated, "One hour?"

"Yeah, one hour." Jack nodded, and grabbing the teenagers by the arm, steered them out of the shop calling over his shoulder, "We'll be back to pick it up."

Eddie's voice followed them out into the street, "I'll do as much as I can, but I'm not making any promises with just an hour to work!"

Jack didn't reply, he simply continued to steer the two teenagers down the street. Spotting a restaurant called 'Ray's' Jack said, "Here you guys, this looks like a good place." Jack herded the two over to the door and pushed them in.

The sudden onslaught of light and noise from inside made the two blondes freeze in the doorway. A band played on a stage and couples were dancing to the fast paced music. The sheer liveliness of the place put the two extraterrestrials in a daze.

Chuckling at the two, Jack gave them a little push. "Come on." He directed them to a table, completely ignoring the little sign that read 'please wait for a waiter to seat you'. "Over here looks good. Sit down, sit."

Still glancing around them, the two sat.

Suddenly Sara directed all of her attention at Jack causing her brother to do the same, "I hope you do not act upon your thought of making a fast break out the back door of Ray's, leaving Stony Creek never to look back at us again."

"How do you know that?" asked Jack, his eyes wide in surprise.

Glaring at him Seth replied, "My sister has the gift of telepathy, the ability to read the thoughts of those nearest to her, remember?"

"Oh yeah, right," said Jack, remembering the conversation where Seth had said almost that exact same thing. Coming back to the present he said, "Well, you should know that here on Earth, reading minds, very rude." Shaking his head at her in a disapproving way Jack added, "Don't do that."

The two siblings just looked at each other as a waiter walked up. "Guys, welcome to Ray's." She stopped and looked from Seth to Sara. "Wow, look at the two of you," she breathed.

"Uh, what do you mean look at the two of them?" asked Jack, the stress of the day becoming evident in the way he began to gesture at them with his hands. "They look like, ah, just two, ah, regular innocent, ah, all American kids."

"Yeah," agreed the waitress, "who look like they just rolled around in a pig pen before coming to dinner."

"Hey Tina." The sound of her name being called distracted the waitress.

Looking up she happily responded, "Sheriff Anthony, your table's waiting for you. I'm gonna send around a thing of pies for you and your boys."

"Sounds good, thanks Tina," said the sheriff before heading off to sit a few tables away.

Refocusing her attention on Jack and his two passengers, Tina opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of heavy breathing behind her. Turning around, Tina was shocked into a moment of silence by the sight of LIX standing directly behind her.

LIX's brown hair had taken on a gray hue from all of the dust that was in it and her skin tone had lightened a few shades for the same reason. Her red jacket was missing a sleeve and had a large burn mark on one side and her jeans were ripped and singed. Her sneakers were still missing along with her socks. She looked like she'd been living in the desert for a few days.

"Oh my," murmured Tina taking in the sight of the teen before her. Focusing on LIX's face Tina's expression became determined. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Giving LIX a smile, she gently pushed her towards the kitchen.

Glancing over her shoulder at Jack, LIX silently asked what she should do.

Jack just gave her a small nod and made a little shooing motion with his hand, telling her to go. He knew how much LIX hated extra attention, but he also knew how much she hated standing out. And right now, with her clothes in such disarray, she definitely stood out.

Smiling uncertainly, LIX turned away from their table and allowed Tina to push her in the right direction.

Sara turned to Jack with a worried look on her face. "Jack Bruno, LIX seems to be exhausted. Will she be alright?"

"She should be fine after she gets some sleep," said Jack as he watched their waiter, Tina, take LIX through a door labeled 'Employee's Only' to get cleaned up.

"How exactly did you meet?" asked Seth, his quiet voice startling Jack out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Jack glanced at the blonde boy. "Same way I met you two." Seeing the two glance at each other in confusion Jack clarified, "She got in the back of my cab and I became her escape vehicle."

"How long ago was that Jack Bruno?" asked Sara, taking a sip of her water.

Doing a little mental math Jack replied, "Almost two years ago now." The sound of his cell phone ringing cut off anything anyone else was going to say.

"Sorry," said Jack as he pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open. "It's Jack."

A quiet muffled voice spoke from the phone's speaker, but it was too quiet for either Seth or Sara to understand. The only thing they could tell was that the voice sounded rather annoyed.

Rolling his eyes Jack exasperatedly said, "Ah, no, it's really…really complicated right now."

The voice on the other side of the phone spoke again, but Jack had decided he didn't need to hear anymore. Flipping the phone shut without replying, Jack slipped the phone back into his pocket.

Ignoring the interruption that the phone had made, Seth's head tilted to the side as he resumed the previous conversation, "Why did your government stop trying to retrieve LIX?"

Appearing behind him with Tina, LIX clapped her hand on Seth's shoulder, and with a smile said, "I died." Sliding into the seat between Jack and him she added, "They didn't have any use for a dead experiment, so they stopped looking for me." Ignoring the amused look from Jack and the confused ones from Seth and Sara, LIX turned to Tina and asked, "Can I have the number six meal to go?"

Giving LIX a smile as she began to walk away, Tina nodded, "Sure thing, it'll be out in a minute."

"Thanks." Turning back to the table, LIX gave them all a timid smile. "So…anything interesting happen?" Her hair had lost much of the dust and dirt that had been in it and her face had been washed. She'd gotten rid of her jacket and was only wearing a blue t-shirt with a few singed spots. Her pants were the same as before, but Tina had given her a pair of slippers since shoes were required in the restaurant.

Jack began to say something, but the sound of his phone ringing again cut him off. Pulling it out and flipping it open he said, "Dominick, I thought I told you-" Jack stopped abruptly, making the three teens look at him in curiosity. Holding up a finger to say he'd be back in a minute, Jack stood from the table and walked away, muttering into the phone.

The table was quiet for a moment after Jack left as Seth and Sara exchanged looks before turning to stare directly at LIX. She fidgeted under their combined gazes, but didn't look away.

In almost perfect unison they both said, "We apologize."

Taken aback, LIX stuttered, "W-what?"

Taking a deep breath Sara clarified, "I apologize for reading thoughts that you would have rather kept to yourself. I have not yet mastered control of my telepathy, but normally I keep most thoughts that I 'overhear' to myself. I apologize for sharing yours when you obviously wished to keep them a secret."

Seeing that Sara was being completely sincere, LIX gave her a smile, "It's okay Sara, apology accepted."

Feeling she needed to make sure LIX understood something, Sara added, "We do not think you are a monster LIX."

Seeing LIX's expression falter slightly, Seth knew his sister had picked up on her fears. "The information that you are not a normal human has not altered our opinion of you."

Raising her eyebrow as she tuned from Sara to her brother LIX asked, "And what opinion might that be?"

"We are both of the opinion that you would make a very good friend," said Sara making LIX turn her surprised gaze from one sibling to the other.

Shocked, LIX stood from her seat and turned away from the two. Making them glance at each other in concern. Standing, they left their own seats and made their way so that they were standing beside her.

"LIX, are you ill?" asked Seth, his face filled with worry.

Her voice quiet and uncertain LIX asked, "You want to be my friends?"

The two blondes glanced at each other again before Sara reiterated, "Yes. We both feel that you are a good person who would be a very good friend."

"Even though you are human," added Seth after a moment which made his sister glare at him, but it made LIX laugh a little and turn around to face them.

Smiling at them as she wiped at her eyes, she happily said, "I think you two would make great friends as well."

The siblings smiled and before they could say anything else LIX had them both in a hug. Smiling serenely Sara wrapped her arms around the taller girl and hugged back, while her confused brother simply patted LIX on the head.

The three teens broke apart to see Jack walking towards them with a determined expression on his face.

"They're here for us, aren't they?"

Sara's question was more of a statement, but Jack answered anyway, "Yeah, they are." Grabbing LIX's arm he pulled the three along with him as he headed towards the table where the sheriff and some of his men sat.

Panicking Seth grabbed his sister's arm, "I knew we couldn't trust him. It's too late we have to run."

However, despite her brother's urging Sara didn't budge. "Seth it's alright. Jack Bruno has a plan."

Rejoining the two after managing to pull her arm free from Jack's grasp, LIX glanced from the siblings to Jack and back again before sarcastically saying, "Right…Jack has a plan…I'll believe that when I see it."

Finished speaking to the sheriff, Jack moved away and beckoned for the teens to follow him. Pulling Seth and Sara after her, LIX followed Jack through the restaurant. They wove their way through the dancing couples towards the back door as a large group of men in black suits entered. From their hiding place behind people and a pillar, they saw the sheriff stand from his table and confront the leader of the new group.

The noise in the room made it impossible to hear what the two said till the man in black loudly exclaimed, "Mr. Carson!" Suddenly the entire restaurant was bristling with firearms. The men dressed in black had pulled out guns, as had the sheriff's officers and even a few of the restaurant's patrons.

"Wow," breathed LIX quietly as she turned to Jack and whispered almost silently, "Nice plan."

"Thanks," whispered Jack in the same almost nonexistent voice. Beckoning to the others he turned towards the back door, but stopped abruptly when he saw a group of people with guns standing there. Repressing the urge to curse, Jack reversed direction, only to be brought to a stop by a stern looking Tina.

After a moment she dropped her stern look and whispered, "Come with me."

Jack looked at the three teens and gave them a slight shrug, before following after the blonde woman. She led them to a small side room that had a ladder bolted into the wall leading up to the roof in it. As Tina turned to leave she gave Sara and LIX a smile.

"Thank you," whispered the two in unison, making them smile slightly.

Grinning at them, Tina whispered, "Good luck." She gave them both a quick hug before ushering them into the room after the boys and closing the door quietly behind them.

Jack had already climbed up the ladder and was trying to open the hatch in the roof. Giving a final grunt he gave up and said, "It's locked from the outside. We have to find another way."

He jumped back down, only to have Seth climb up to where he had been.

"Hey!" called Jack quietly, as Sara followed her brother up. Jack fell silent though when Seth stuck his hand **through** the metal hatch. A few seconds later a quiet grating sound could be heard and Seth pulled his hand back through the metal to push the hatch open easily.

"Or we could do that," said Jack, a trace of indignation in his voice, making LIX giggle softly.

Turning to Sara LIX asked, "How did he do that?"

"Seth has the ability to control his molecular density, which allows him to phase through solid objects willingly or to withstand the greatest of impacts," explained Sara simply before following her brother up onto the roof.

For some odd reason this explanation made LIX grin manically and she said, "Neat" before climbing up after the two, leaving Jack to bring up the rear.

Closing and locking the hatch behind them, Jack followed the three teens across the roof. On one side of the restaurant a trailer stood within only a foot or two of the roof. The jumped from one roof to the other and then paused, trying to figure out how to get from the trailer roof to the ground, which was nine to ten feet below.

Catching up to them Jack saw the problem and quietly said, "I'll jump down first and catch you."

Seth and Sara nodded, but LIX quickly said, "No. You might land wrong and hurt yourself."

Understanding LIX's point, but not seeing another way Jack asked, "How else do you propose we go about this?"

"Like this," said LIX with a grin. Before any of them could register her words, she had grabbed Jack around the middle, hoisted him up over her shoulder and jumped off the roof. She landed lightly on the ground and set Jack back on his feet.

Glaring at her he grumbled, "You could have warned me." Turning to the two still on the roof he said, "Now I will catch you."

As Sara and Seth jumped down LIX said, "I could have warned you, but it's so much more fun when I don't."

Placing Seth on the ground Jack simply glared at the brown haired girl.

A sudden growling from behind them made LIX tense and they all turned to see a sandy colored dog standing a few feet away. It growled at them and Jack's eyes flickered over to LIX who had taken a small step backwards. The dog leaped forward barking, but stopped an instant later and began wagging it's tail as it let Sara pet it's head.

"We appreciate your understanding," said Sara to the dog as she scratched it behind the ears.

LIX stepped forward again so that she was standing next to Jack and the dog immediately went back to growling. She responded by hissing at it. The two stared at each other for a minute, growling and hissing, before the both just simply stopped.

Glancing from the dog to the girl and then back again, Seth asked, " What has just happened?"

"LIX doesn't like dogs very much," said Jack with a shrug.

"He does not like the way she smells," said Sara, as she gave the dog another pat on the head now that it had once again stopped growling.

"We've reached a temporary truce though," said LIX from over her shoulder as she began to walk away towards the auto repair shop.

"Let's go," said Sara as she stood and followed after LIX, Jack and Seth quickly following her lead.

They used the shadows to avoid the many agents on guard for them stationed around the restaurant. Reaching the repair shop, they found Eddie Cortez still at work.

Seeing them he quickly finished what he was doing and said, " I fixed the most important things first and even managed to put those new tires you wanted on."

"Good," said Jack. He handed Eddie a wad of hundreds and climbed into the car. Sara pushed LIX into the backseat behind Jack and made Seth sit beside her in the middle seat while she took the other door seat.

Ignoring Jack and Eddie's parting words, Seth asked his sister, "Sara, why is one of us not sitting in the front passenger seat?" Sara didn't respond so Seth dropped it, knowing his sister usually only did things like this for a good reason.

Jack put the cab into reverse and they tore out of the repair shop. Spinning the car around so that it was facing the direction he wanted, he put it back into drive and they took off down the main street. The men in black all scrambled to get into their vehicles to pursue them.

"There's too many of them to out run," said Jack.

Sara raised her hand and quickly formed it into a fist. All along the street, the SUV engines began exploding in showers of sparks.

"Whatever you're doing keep doing it!" exclaimed Jack as he drove through the fireworks display.

They passed the sign that gave the name of the town and Jack said, "Say good-bye to Stony Creek." The next instant the cab's brake had pressed itself all the way to the floor, making them all fall forward from their loss of momentum. Jack looked around as he began yelling, "What! No, no, no, no, not now! Come on! Sara – Sara are you doing this?"

Sara didn't answer but the passenger door suddenly popped open and the sandy colored dog from before hopped inside, the door clicking shut behind it.

Jack simply looked at the dog for a moment before exclaiming, "Oh- haha- absolutely not. This 'Junkyard' is not coming with us. I am done picking up stray passengers."

LIX also added her own opinion, saying, "If he stays, he stays up there away from me."

Sara nodded, but Jack said, "No, he's not staying at all!"

Sudden gunshots hitting the bumper of the cab made Jack quit complaining and hit the gas pedal, ending the conversation. It seemed the dog would be staying with them for the moment.

Despite the fact that whoever was chasing them couldn't follow, Jack kept the cab going at a good pace and left the main road as soon as the option presented itself. Taking them onto a dusty unused back road that ran alongside the main one.

The cab was tense and silent till they all thought they were far enough away from Stony Creek to be out of danger.

"So those guys are chasing you?" asked LIX, leaning up against the door as she looked at the two blondes sitting beside her.

"Yeah," said Jack, "Those guys who were chasing us, they were the same ones from the highway right?"

"Yes," said Sara.

"So they aren't Jack's old pal Wolfe," stated LIX. Tilting her head to the side, she added, "But that doesn't mean they aren't the lovely people who made me."

"I do not know what part of your government they are affiliated with, so I cannot answer that," said Sara as she leaned over the sea in front of her to pet the dog.

"Either way," interjected Seth, his eyes focused on Jack's, "it is vital that you take us to their base of operations."

"What?" asked Jack his face twisting in confusion. "You want me to take you to the guys who are trying to kill you?" In the back seat Seth simply nodded.

Just as confused as Jack, LIX tilted her head to the side as she said, " That is an unusual way to escape from your pursuers."

Giving a little nod himself, as if to show he understood Seth's insanity, Jack said, "Let me explain to you the way we do things here…on Earth. People who want you dead, you avoid. That way you…stay alive. Make sense?"

"No one on you planet will…stay alive…if we do not return to our planet. And in order to return we need our ship. Those men who were trying to kill us have stolen our ship." said Seth. His expression remained serious as he added, "Make sense?"

"Completely," said LIX with a small grin at the boys conversation.

"Where do you suggest we begin our search?" asked Sara as she looked from LIX to Jack and back again.

"Shaking his head, Jack overrode anything LIX might have said, saying, "I don't suggest we begin searching at all. I do suggest we go back to Vegas and I drop you off right where you got on." Turning to the dog beside him Jack added, "You too."

Turning to his sister, Seth said, "It's just as I thought. No human is going to help us Sara. Especially not this** human.**" As he spoke the last bit he looked directly at Jack.

"Hey, hey!" interrupted Jack, "Easy on the human bashing. Okay? Some of my best friends just happen to be human."

"Oh come on Jack!" exclaimed LIX, breaking the tenseness that had settled in the cab at Jack's statement. "We should help them."

"Give me some really good reasons why," said Jack as he rubbed his left temple.

"Reason one," said LIX as she held up a finger, "they're kids all alone in a strange place. Reason two," Another finger joined the first one, "Bad people are chasing them with intent to do bad things to them. Reason three, I really like them and they're my friends. And finally reason four," she held four fingers up so Jack could see them, "If they don't succeed in their mission everyone on our planet will die." Turning to Sara she said, "Those seem like some really good reasons to me. Especially the last two."

"Fine!" exclaimed Jack. Looking at the three teens in the back seat he added, "But even if I do help you, I don't know where to start. I don't know anything about UFOs or aliens or…"

"Who is Dr. Alex Freidman?" asked Sara, obviously having pulled the name from Jack's thoughts.

Thinking about the name for a moment Jack said, "She's actually someone who can help. And for the record," added Jack as he glared at Seth in the rearview mirror, " She happens to be human."

"Of course she is," said LIX with a yawn, the excitement dying down enough for her exhaustion to make itself known. "Everyone on this planet but these two are human." A few seconds later she yawned and added, "Oh yeah, that Siphon isn't really human either." Apparently finished speaking, LIX closed her eyes and relaxed against the window, allowing the cab to fill with silence.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye at the dog sitting in the seat beside him Jack broke the silence, " So why exactly must this dog come with us?"

From where she was leaning against her door with her eyes closed, LIX mumbled sleepily, "I second that question."

Seth simply shrugged when Jack looked at him in the rearview mirror, so Jack deferred his questioning stare towards Sara.

Meeting Jack's gaze in the mirror, Sara stated, "Junkyard helped us in our escape from that town, Stony Creek. Because of his actions, he is now without a home."

"So, you're saying we should let this dog come with us because it helped?" Jack shook his head in exasperation as he looked at the dog. Turning his eyes back towards Sara he asked, "And when did the dog get a name?"

Sara blinked at him for a moment before smiling, "Jack Bruno, you named him."

"I did not," denied Jack, but was cut off by LIX's tired yawn.

"Yes you did." LIX snuggled deeper into the seat as she clarified, "You called him Junkyard when he first jumped in the car."

Jack opened his mouth, but closed it silently as the memory of his earlier shout played through his mind. "Right, I guess I did."

"Junkyard is coming with us because he needs a home," said Sara with a small smile as she scratched the dog behind the ears.

Groaning Jack abruptly sighed, "Fine. 'Junkyard' can stay with us till we can find a place for him to live."

LIX's quiet groan of annoyance was drowned out as Sara happily chirped, "Thank you Jack Bruno."

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Jack. Glancing at the two siblings and the nearly asleep LIX in the rearview mirror, it was easy to see that they were all tired. "Why don't you two get some sleep like LIX? You're gonna need your energy if tomorrow is as eventful as today."

"That is a good idea Jack Bruno," said Sara, apparently latching onto the idea. Turning to her brother she said, "Goodnight Seth." Turning back towards the front she leant against her own window and closed her eyes. A moment later she added quietly, "Goodnight Jack Bruno, LIX."

"Goodnight," said both Jack and Seth at the same time. LIX didn't respond since she was already asleep.

Turning his gaze towards Seth, Jack said, "You should probably try to get some sleep as well."

Tilting his head to the side much like LIX, Seth asked, "Where? I appear to be hedge in."

"Just lean on one of them. I'm sure they won't mind much," said Jack, a large grin on his face.

Seth looked at him for a moment before simply lying his head back against the seat and closing his eyes.

"Or you could do that," muttered Jack to himself. Beside him Junkyard wagged his tail and curled up on the seat leaving Jack the only one awake. Turning his attention back to the road he prepared himself for the long and boring drive till morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**

I apologize for the time it took to get this written. I have multiple excuses but I won't bother with them. All I'm going to say is that I'm extremely happy to be done with this chapter. I can now move onto the next more exciting chapter. Please review. I've already started work on the fifth chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you've got any questions or helpful critiques don't hesitate to send them.

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Race to Witch Mountain or it's characters. The only things that I can claim as my own are LIX and the additions and changes that occur to the story's plot because of her presence.

**Chapter 4**

The sun had been up for a while when the three teenagers awoke. They were parked in the middle of the dirt road. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Sara groggily asked, "Why are we stopped?"

"Jack's asleep," replied LIX tiredly as she unbuckled and opened the door. Climbing out she said, "This would be a good time to go to the bathroom and stretch your legs."

Glancing at each other, Seth and Sara followed her out of the cab. "How much farther do we have to go till we meet this Dr. Alex Friedman?" asked Seth as he stretched.

"No idea." LIX shook her hair out of its ponytail as she began walking away from the cab towards a large outcropping of rocks. Over her shoulder she said, "When Jack wakes up tell him I'm going to stretch my legs."

"Alright LIX," said Sara with a smile. She gave a little wave as LIX jumped up onto the boulders. Turning to her brother she asked, "How long do you think we have been stopped?"

Seth glanced at the sun for a second and then at Jack's sleeping form. "I have no idea." Folding his arms across his chest he added, "We better not have been stopped long. We need to get back home soon. These delays are not acceptable."

Smiling at her brother's impatience, Sara shook her head in amusement and without comment walked towards her own set of boulders.

Noticing her walking away Seth asked, "Sara, where are you going?"

"LIX said we should use the time to stretch and relieve ourselves." Still walking Sara continued, "We've most likely been here for a while considering how deeply Jack Bruno is asleep. I am going to relieve myself now so we can wake him up and proceed."

"Oh." Seth blinked. Glancing around and not seeing any other rock outcroppings he said, "I shall be on the other side of the cab."

Waving at him over her shoulder she added, "Wake Jack Bruno up once you are ready."

Seeing his sister disappear behind a rock, Seth stretched his arms up again and watched LIX jump from boulder to boulder chasing what looked like a lizard. A muffled noise drew his attention to the cab, where Junkyard was pawing at the door and barking, clearly wanting to be let out.

Shrugging to himself, Seth opened the door and let the dog jump to the ground. However, Junkyard's previous barking must have woken Jack up, because he also climbed out of the cab.

Stretching his arms above his head till his back cracked loud enough that even Seth could hear it, Jack yawned, "You all stretch and use the restroom?" Before Seth could answer he glanced around and added, "Where're the girls?"

Folding his arms across his chest Seth watched Junkyard circle around a small rock and said, "LIX is on the boulders behind you and Sara is behind that rock to the left." As he spoke Sara emerged from behind the rock and waved at the two of them with a smile.

"Your sister sure is cheerful in the morning," commented Jack as he yawned again. Popping his back a final time he said, "Well if everyone's ready we'll get back on the road."

A yawn broke from LIX's mouth as she stretched her arms above her head. Muttering about the need for a hairbrush she ran her fingers through her hair as she watched Sara coax Junkyard back into the front seat of the cab.

"Hurry up!" yelled Jack from where he stood by the cab door. "You've got two minutes. We need to get moving."

Waving at him to show she had heard, LIX jumped down from the boulder she had been standing on, dropping out of sight of the cab as she did so. She landed lightly on the ground and took a step when she felt a sudden burst of pain shoot up her leg.

"Aargh!"

The pained yell made Jack's head snap up and around. Without a word he began running towards the boulder LIX had just jumped behind. Exchanging a worried glance, Seth and Sara took off after him. Being only a few feet behind Jack, they rounded the edge of the boulder just after him.

"LIX?!" Jack's yell died in his throat as the three took in the sight before them. LIX was leaning with all of her weight on the boulder, using it to support herself. Sweat was running down her face and her breathing was ragged. But the thing that had the others frozen was the snake that had latched onto her calf. It looked to be around six feet long and was as thick around as one of Jack's arms.

Still frozen, Jack kept his eyes on the snake as he quietly asked, "LIX, what kind of snake is that?"

Glancing down at the creature attached to her by the fangs, LIX panted out, "No idea."

"Is it poisonous?" asked Jack, his voice the equivalent of a stage whisper.

LIX rolled her eyes at the question and between pants said, "Well duh." The snake tightened its grip, causing LIX to grimace in pain. Turing her full attention to the snake her eyes narrowed. Barring her teeth in a snarl, she muttered, "So you're trying to poison me?"

Jack seemed to shake himself out of his frozen stupor at LIX's words. Backing away slightly, he began pushing Seth and Sara back around to the far side of the boulder. The two resisted a little, but were still slightly dazed from the sight of the snake. Jack managed to get them halfway back to the cab before they were able to voice their complaints clearly.

"Jack Bruno," protested Sara as she struggled against his push towards the cab, "LIX has been injured. She is in need of our assistance."

Not relenting, Jack said, "LIX will be fine. Now get back to the cab!"

"Jack Bruno," started Seth, resisting as well, "We must help-"

A loud roar cut off the rest of Seth's sentence and made the three spin around towards the boulder. Standing on top of the boulder was a massive black lion. Focusing on the three it let out a loud roar, making Seth and Sara stumble backwards. With a low growl it jumped down in front of Jack and began advancing slowly. Shocking the two blondes, Jack held his hands in front of him in a placating manner and took a few steps towards the massive lion.

"Jack Bruno," whispered Sara, trying to keep the lion from focusing on her, "You should retreat. Advancing any further may result in your injury."

Keeping eye contact with the lion, Jack calmly said over his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Seth opened his mouth to make a comment of his own, but found his sister's hand over his mouth before he'd gotten a single word out. Seeing the look on his sister's face that clearly said 'be quiet' he nodded in acceptance and stayed silent. Soft muttering drew the two's attention back to Jack who was still making his way towards the lion.

"Hey girl, it's Jack." Stopping with only a few feet between him and the lion Jack quietly asked, "Come on, recognize my smell?"

The lion simply growled low in its throat and its ears flattened against the side of its head.

Seeing this Jack froze for a moment before lowering his hands and sternly saying, "LIX." Still not getting any reaction he straightened and barked, "Fifty-nine! Cease and Desist!" The lion froze at the command and Jack continued, "Stand Down!"

At the last command the lion took ten steps backwards and then laid down with its head on its paws. As Jack turned back towards the two, Seth and Sara could only stare bewildered.

Reaching them, Jack sighed as he said, "We're going to have to wait here for a bit."

"What-" His face twisted in confusion, Seth eventually managed to ask, "Jack Bruno, what just happened?"

"Jack Bruno, is that LIX?" asked Sara before Jack could answer Seth's question.

Sighing again Jack pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Yes, that's LIX." Motioning for the two to follow him, he said, "Let's wait in the cab."

"How did LIX become a lion?" asked Sara as she climbed into the front seat so she could pet Junkyard. "That is not the common size or color for a lion on this planet, is it Jack Bruno?"

Closing the cab door behind himself Jack sighed, "I've got no idea as to how she does that, and I don't think I'll ever ask. Yes, she is larger than the natural lions recorded. Most lions only reach a height around three feet not five. I don't know why she's that color. She said it was considered a genetic malfunction. "

"Why did she change?" asked Seth.

"It was the snake," said Sara, her eyes focused intently on Jack. "It poisoned her."

"Hey," said Jack as he waved his finger in front of her face, "no mind reading. Remember?"

Ignoring Jack's comment, Seth asked him, "Why would being poisoned make her transform?"

"It's her body's natural reaction to most toxins. Apparently her lion body is immune to all known poisons, or as I understand it immune to any toxin after being exposed to it once. Unfortunately the deadlier the toxin the less control she has over when or how she transforms. And her natural temperament while transformed is extremely aggressive."

"So LIX was not in control?" asked Sara. Jack nodded and she added, "Is she ever in control of her transformations?"

"She's almost always in control. Even when she's acting purely on instinct she only attacks threats."

"Then why did it seem like she was going to attack us earlier?" asked Sara as she scratched Junkyard behind the ears.

"Poisons are a touchy subject for her, especially when it's an aggressive toxin. I believe it makes her feel as if she's back in the place where they created her." Jack glanced out the window to where LIX was hopping from boulder to boulder chasing something.

"What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Jack Bruno?" asked Sara, obviously having pulled it from Jack's mind.

No answer was forthcoming as a moment later they were interrupted by a series of clicks on the window. The two teenagers jumped at the sight of LIX's massive paw tapping its nails against the glass.

"Ah," Jack tapped a reply on the window and opened the door as LIX backed away. "She must be ready to change back now."

"She requires your presence to do so?" asked Seth as he and his sister followed Jack's lead and got out of the cab.

All responses were cut off by a growl from LIX. As they watched, her fur rippled and began to recede. A low grinding noise filled the area as bones reshaped and rearranged themselves till the lion became the crouching form of LIX.

The three blinked for a moment before Seth found himself suddenly being spun to face the opposite direction by Jack. Jack himself turned to face the same direction as he'd turned Seth as Sara observed, "LIX is no longer wearing any clothing."

"Sara can you help LIX up?" asked Jack, his eyes closed in resignation and his hand still resting firmly on Seth's shoulder.

"Of course Jack Bruno."

"LIX," said Jack, "we don't have anything else for you to wear. Can you handle that?"

As Sara pulled her up to her feet and helped her stand, LIX tiredly said, "Yeah. Sure. Just give me a minute."

"Take your time," said Jack watching Junkyard paw at the inside of cab window.

A few minutes later Sara called, "She is done!"

Jack turned around first and seeing that LIX was no longer nude, allowed Seth to turn around as well. She was still wearing absolutely nothing, but in the place of bare skin there was a thick coat of dark brown and black fur. It covered every inch of her, making it seem that instead of being naked she was wearing a skintight suit. In addition to the fur, two furry lion ears stuck out of the mane that her hair had become. More surprising then even that was the tail coming out of her backside. It twitched from side to side in an almost mesmerizing fashion.

Sighing yet again, Jack asked, "Is that the best you can do?"

Clinging to Sara to keep herself from falling over, LIX simply grunted in response to Jack's question.

The two blondes both had worried looks on their faces as Seth asked, "LIX are you injured?"

Jack saved LIX the trouble of answering, saying, "She's just exhausted from transforming so much in such a short time period. She'll be fine with some sleep."

LIX's eyes were obviously having trouble staying open and she was having difficulty remaining upright even with Sara's help.

"We should get her into the cab," suggested Seth opening the back door.

"Sounds good," agreed Jack. Moving to take LIX from Sara he added, "I'll get her, you two get in your seats." Seeing their nods, Jack lifted LIX in his arms ignoring the single grunt of protest that escaped her. Jack bent down and placed her gently on the seat, being sure to keep her tail from being squashed or bent. Sara had gotten in the other side and helped pull LIX farther into the cab. Smiling at her, Jack ruffled the mane that LIX's hair had become before closing the door and getting into the driver's seat.

"Here LIX," said Sara as she patted her lap, "You should lay down."

LIX didn't make any noise in reply. She simply flopped down onto the seat, her head rested on Sara's lap and her legs curled up on the seat. She was asleep in a matter of seconds.

In the front seat, Seth awkwardly patted Junkyard on the head and stared out the window as Jack started the cab. A light pink tinge still covered his cheeks from when LIX first resumed her human form.

They'd been driving for a while when Sara suddenly giggled in the backseat. Both guys glanced in the rearview mirror to see what was going on. Jack raised his eyebrow in question as to what she was giggling about, making her smile grow even bigger.

Obviously suppressing giggles, Sara said, "Jack Bruno, did you know that LIX purrs if you pet her ears when she is like this?'

Jack glanced to the equally bewildered Seth beside him as he answered, "Uh, no. I've never really scratched her ears before."

Giggling again Sara nearly squealed, "It is so adorable! LIX is like a large kitten."

"Right," agreed Jack uncertainly. Seeing that Seth had already tuned out his sister's comments on just how cute and adorable LIX was at the moment, Jack returned his full attention to the road.

A few hours passed in pleasant silence before LIX slowly began to stir. Groggily opening her eyes, she sat up slowly, making sure not to crush her tail.

"Did you sleep well LIX?" asked Sara as she gave LIX a smile.

Cracking her neck from side to side, LIX let out a yawn that showed off her elongated canines and stretched. She acted as if she hadn't heard the blonde girl's question. Bouncing a few times in her seat, LIX focused on Jack and began to chant, "Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Ja-"

"Yes LIX?" asked Jack as he rolled his eyes at her antics.

"I'm not LIX, Jack," said LIX, startling the two siblings. Her head tilted to the side and one of her ears flicked back. "I'm May."

"Alright, May, what did you want?" asked Jack, unfazed by LIX's apparent personality change.

"I'm hungry," chirped May, her grin once again revealing her decidedly deadly looking teeth.

"Well, we'll be stopping in a few minutes, alright?"

"Okie dokie Jack."

"Why don't you finish your nap?" suggested Jack as Seth and Sara exchanged a confused glance.

Without protest she curled up into a ball on the seat with her tail tucked under her chin. Lifting her head slightly she asked quietly, "Can I see Simon today?"

Jack visibly tensed at May's question. His grip on the steering wheel tightened so much that his knuckles were turning white. His voice was strained as he replied, "Yeah, sure sweetie. You can see Simon today. After your nap."

"That's good," mumbled May with a small yawn. "I've missed him."

As May fell back asleep the cab was filled with silence once again, only this time it was anything but pleasant. The silence remained till LIX had been asleep for a while.

"Jack Bruno," said Seth softly, "what just happened?"

Jack sighed as the two blondes focused all of their attention on him, even Junkyard looked like he was paying attention. "You know LIX was an experiment, and Sara probably knows a bit about what they did, but there's more." He shook his head and sadness filled his voice as he added in a whisper, "So much more."

"Will LIX come back?" asked Seth his face in a worried expression.

Jack kept his eyes on the road as he answered, "Yeah, she'll be back when she wakes up. May is the personality that she had as a young child. An extremely traumatic experience caused it to be replaced by another personality. May only surfaces when LIX is somewhere safe and when she is extremely tired."

"So LIX has multiple personalities?" asked Sara, her brow creased in thought as she tried to understand.

"Yes," said Jack shortly.

"How many does she have?" questioned Seth as he scratched behind Junkyard's ears. "Is she aware of their existence?"

Jack sighed yet again, "As far as I know she only has May and one other. They each have their own triggers. And yes, LIX is aware of their existence. Her main personality has traces of the alternates in it. The alternates each take one characteristic to an extreme."

Sara looked up from where she had been staring at LIX to ask, "What is the other personality and what is its trigger?"

"The second personality is the one that first replaced May, even if it was only for a few hours. Apparently whatever happened to destroy May created the personality called Zuma. Zuma is basically an embodiment of aggression, she attacks anything perceived as a threat and is triggered by a number of things."

"Have you ever met Zuma?" asked Seth.

Jack nodded and was silent for a bit before adding quietly, "It was frightening." Looking at the two out of the corner of his eye he said, "I hope you never have a reason to meet her."

The cab fell silent again as Jack tried to focus on more happy things and Seth and Sara thought about what exactly could have caused for someone's personality to split in such a way. Hours passed in such silence and it was almost noon when someone finally spoke.

"I see a gas station up ahead," announced Jack. "We'll stop there for a bit."

Pulling up beside a gas pump, Jack loudly said, "LIX. Hey LIX, wake up."

"Mm, what?" mumbled LIX as she sat up slowly rubbing her eyes. She let out a large yawn and her razor sharp teeth glinted in the sun. Blinking a few times to let herself adjust to being awake she asked again, "What Jack?"

Turning in his seat so that he could see all of the teenagers at once, Jack began giving instructions. "Alright, LIX you stay in here till we see if we can find anything for you to wear. If we can't you'll just have to wait till we get back to the city." At LIX's nod he moved on to the other two. "Okay, you two, one of you needs to be with Junkyard at all times. If you take turns one of you can use the bathroom while the other walks him and then switch."

"Why must one of us always be with him?" asked Sara, her head tilted to the side and her eyes focused on Jack's.

"I highly doubt LIX wants to be left alone in the cab with him," said Jack and his statement was quickly met with agreement from LIX herself. "Everyone be done and back here in less than ten minutes." Getting nods from everyone, Jack finished, "Alright let's get going."

In a matter of seconds the cab was empty except for LIX. Seth had taken Junkyard first while Sara used the bathroom and Jack stood outside LIX's door, watching the gas pump.

Rolling down her window a crack LIX asked, "What happened?"

Startled by the random question Jack jumped slightly, "What do you mean?"

"Something happened while we were driving. The smell of uneasiness was positively rolling off you and the others in waves," said LIX as she rolled her eyes at Jack's terrible attempt at redirecting the conversation.

"Oh," Jack hesitated before saying, "You woke up from your nap about an hour ago."

"Huh?" LIX blinked. "No I didn't, I woke up just a minute ago…" She trailed off as she realized what must have happened. With a resigned sigh she asked, "So which one was I?"

"Don't worry, it was just May," said Jack as he removed the gas nozzle from the cab.

LIX narrowed her eyes at him. "Then why were you so uncomfortable? You still smell uneasy. What did I do that threw you so much?"

Jack gave a sigh of his own and rubbed at his temples. "You asked to see Simon."

"Oh." LIX blinked and seemed to grow sad as she sat back in her seat and began to roll the window back up. When it was almost closed she asked in a quiet voice, "Did they ask?"

Jack looked at her though the small opening, she refused to meet his eyes, and shook his head, "No. They got distracted by May and didn't register what you said." In a quieter voice he added, "That tale can only be told by you and you never have to tell it if you don't want to."

LIX nodded, "I know. Thanks Jack." Her eyes hidden in shadow, she closed the window and Jack was left looking at his reflection.

Sighing again Jack went to go pay. As he entered the dirty worn-down building he saw Sara coming out of the restroom. Waving to get her attention he waited for her to make her way to the counter where he was standing.

"Yes Jack Bruno?"

"Sara, can you go grab us some water bottles and one of those packets of beef jerky?" asked Jack as he waited for the cashier to get off the phone and notice him. "You can grab anything think you and your brother might want as well."

As she nodded she asked, "What about junkyard?"

Rolling his eyes a little Jack just said, "Fine, you can get something for him too. Just hurry."

Sara just smiled at him before disappearing between the aisles. Every now and then he caught a glimpse of the top of her head moving between the aisles.

"Can I help you?"

Jack turned around to find that the cashier was finally off the phone and paying attention to him. Ignoring the dirty man's rudeness Jack pulled out his wallet. "Yeah, I used pump three. How much do I owe?"

Turning his head away slightly, the cashier proceeded to spit out a wad of tobacco. Taking his time, he slowly pushed a few buttons on the cash register. He opened his mouth to give the total but was cut off by Sara's return.

"Here Jack Bruno. I did not find anything suitable for LIX to wear." Sara laid the items she'd collected on the counter and then left, presumably to take Junkyard from Seth.

Muttering in annoyance under his breath and spitting again, the cashier punched the items into the register and snapped, "$56.73."

"Here," said Jack as he gave the man a fifty, a five, and two ones. "Keep the change." Gathering up the water bottles and snacks he wasted no time in leaving. Passing Seth on his way out he warned him, "Five minutes tops." The boy nodded and hurried inside.

As Jack approached the cab he saw that Sara was sitting in the front seat with Junkyard basically sitting in her lap. Climbing into the driver's seat he wasted no time in starting the engine and turning the air conditioning on.

"Oh thank God," said LIX as she felt the cool air on her fur. "You have no idea how good that feels."

"Sorry, here's some water." Jack passed a bottle to her and handed another to Sara. "We also picked up some jerky for you."

LIX's ears perked up as he handed the package back to her. As she ripped the top open her tail started to flick from side to side. Pulling a piece out she held it close to her nose and sniffed it. Her tongue then darted out and licked it. A grin split her face for a second before she viciously bit in and tore the piece in half. Closing her eyes as she munched on it, Jack and Sara were sure they heard her purr.

Sara giggled a little and Jack also had a smile on his face. Junkyard barked and made the two pay attention to him. Panting slightly the dog leaned over the middle console and nudged Jack's hand with his nose.

Rolling his eyes Jack said, "Yeah, yeah. I got something for you too you mutt." Turning to Sara as he opened the plastic covering he said, "I have no idea how you managed to find a dog bone in a gas station." She just smiled at him in response and watched Junkyard gnaw on his treat.

Glancing up Sara said, "Seth is coming we can leave now." As she spoke Seth opened the door and climbed into the backseat.

"Alright then, we're gone." Jack pulled back onto the road and wasted no time in pushing the gas pedal. Glancing back at LIX still happily munching on her jerky Jack said, "Sorry we weren't able to find anything for you to wear. We'll make another stop before we go to the convention."

Somehow managing to pull her attention away from her delicious snack, LIX shook her head and very seriously said, "No. If we take too long Dr. Freidman will leave and we'll lose our only lead. It's a convention right? I should fit in fine like this."

"How is that LIX?" asked Seth, voicing Sara's confusion as well as his own.

Cutting in before LIX could respond Jack said, "That may be, but I'm not comfortable with you walking around in a crowd of people wearing basically nothing. That fur doesn't leave much to the imagination." He ended his statement with a glare leveled at her in the rearview mirror.

Waving her hand dismissively LIX answered Seth as if Jack hadn't spoken. "Dr. Freidman is giving a presentation at the Sci-Fi convention. The majority of the people who go to those things are into aliens and robots. Lots of them dress up as characters in books and stuff." Waving her hand at herself she continued, "People at the convention will just think that I'm dressing up as some were-cat creature. I'll probably fit in better then you three." She finished with a smile and then returned her attention to her snack.

"I think we should stop before we get there," reiterated Jack stubbornly, his glare now focused on the road in front of him.

Patting Jack on the arm Sara tried to soothe him a little. "Jack Bruno, LIX's logic is sound. If people dress as she says they do at this convention, then there is no need for us to stop again. I do not like the idea of anyone getting ideas about LIX either, but I am afraid that we really do not have enough time. If we miss Dr. Friedman the whole planet could be put in peril."

Jack opened his mouth again, clearly about to continue arguing, but was cut off by Seth simply saying, "They are both correct Jack Bruno. Do not worry, we will make sure nothing happens to LIX."

Obviously annoyed, Jack just grunted, "Fine, but I'm holding you to it."

Her usual smile back in place, Sara cheerfully said, "Do not worry Jack Bruno. LIX is our friend; we will help her stay safe. Though I do not think that she would need our help in such a manner."

"That may be, but it's nice to have help," said LIX, giving them all a rather shy looking smile.

"Hey look!" said Jack, getting everyone's attention. "We're back."

They all smiled at the sight of Las Vegas rising out of the desert. A few minutes later they passed the sign that welcomed them to the city. With Jack's cab driving skills it didn't take them long to reach the convention.

Pulling up to the curb and turning the cab off, Jack asked, "Everyone ready?" He only got serious nods from the three teens before they all climbed out of the cab.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**

Finally, after an extremely long hiatus, I give you an update. Unfortunately this chapter doesn't really have much excitement in it. All the cool action sequences and revelations happen at the end of the story. Sorta like a climax. I might even throw in a flashback to explain LIX's creation. And next chapter should have Jack and LIX's meeting. But again don't expect anything fast. I'm now a full-time working girl with school as well. Writing will happen when I have the time, which is a rare commodity. That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Reviews = Love

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Race to Witch Mountain or it's characters. The only things that I can claim as my own are LIX and the additions and changes that occur to the story's plot because of her presence.

**Chapter 5**

The three stepped out of the cab, and Jack caught the attention of a man in a valet outfit. The man barely glanced at the others, his gaze passing over them quickly before returning to Jack.

"Here," said Jack as he handed the valet a couple hundred-dollar bills and the keys, "I need you to keep the cab close and to give the dog some water." He paused for a moment before adding, "And, uh, get him a meaty treat."

Ushering Seth and Sara away from the sidewalk, Jack made them walk in front of him and behind LIX. As they entered, the two extraterrestrials found their eyes met with an array of strange sights. Models of spaceships, aliens, and robots filled the large entrance hall.

Seeing a group of people dressed in aluminum foil with pink tennis balls stuck to them walk by, Seth said to no one in particular, "LIX was correct, everyone does dress oddly here." His sister merely nodded in agreement, her eyes following the strange group till they disappeared back into the crowd.

Chuckling at the two's astonishment, LIX grabbed their wrists. "Come on guys, Dr. Freidman should be this way." Dragging the two away from the door, LIX led the way into the strangely dressed crowd. Still adjusting to the strange new environment, Seth and Sara followed speechlessly, with a bemused Jack trailing behind.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" asked Jack when they paused for a moment in what was probably the center of the room.

Her head twisting from side to side as she quickly scanned the layout of the area, LIX said, "Of course I do." Apparently having found what she wanted, she plunged back into the crowd, still dragging the two blondes with her.

Grumbling under his breath, Jack followed. Being larger then the teens, he rapidly fell behind and had to use the occasional glimpse of blonde hair and fluffy cat ears to stay on their trail. They disappeared completely when a group of people wearing gold body suits with their faces painted bright orange passed in front of him. Standing at his full height of 6'4" he could see over a good bit of the crowd, but the cat ears were nowhere in sight. Just as he was about to start mumbling curses under his breath he felt a tug on the back of his jacket that made him turn.

Standing to his side with her hand holding his jacket was LIX. Tugging again at his jacket, she grinned. "Come on Jack, we found the conference room. You almost got left behind."

Jack glared at her but it only made her grin take on a Cheshire quality, so he rolled his eyes instead as she dragged him through the crowd. Paying no heed to the large number of people that she smacked with her tail, LIX pulled him out of the crowded main room and down a much emptier hallway.

Seth and Sara were waiting for them by a door with a large sign beside it announcing Dr. Freidman's seminar along with something about cattle mutilation.

"Hurry," called Seth as he caught sight of them. "A large number of people have recently exited the room. We may have missed Dr. Freidman's presentation."

As he spoke, Sara pushed the door open and ushered them inside. The room itself was constructed along the same lines as most presentation halls. It was long with a slightly slopping floor so that the numerous rows of seats all had a relatively good view of the stage that was located at the front. All in all the room was quite large and quite empty. The only inhabitant was a woman standing at the front beside the podium.

"Come on." Taking the lead, Jack led the way towards the front of the room. "Hi," said Jack, drawing the woman's attention, "Dr. Freidman, we need to talk with you."

"The cattle mutilation lecture doesn't start for an hour, but grab a seat, this place'll be packed." She paused as she crumpled up the cup she was drinking from. Throwing it away she continued bitterly, "It always is."

"We're here to see you actually," said Jack as the four came to a stop. He held his hand out in greeting, "It's Jack Bruno, we met earlier."

Dr. Freidman's brow furrowed as she tried to place the name. "We did?"

Seeing her confusion he continued, "Cab. Airport to hotel." Pointing at himself he added, "Driver."

"Ah," she nodded and gave a little depreciating laugh, "the non believer. What're the odds?"

"Hey is there some place we can talk?"

Dr. Freidman actually looked around at the empty room before she asked, "The, uh, crowds in here making you uncomfortable?"

"Somewhere even more private than this?" said LIX, jumping into the conversation.

Dr. Freidman shook her head, "Look no offense, but I'm pretty sure that-"

"She's doubting her thesis on Gleaza 5.81 and Alqubare's Warp-drive." interrupted Sara, making Dr. Freidman turn back to look at her in surprise.

"How did you know that?" Her voice was just a whisper of shock.

"Oh it gets a lot better," said Jack, "trust me."

"Alright, I know somewhere." Dr. Freidman shook her head and gestured for them to follow her. She led the way out of the room and down the hall. A moment later they were back in the entrance hall.

"Try not to get separated this time," said Jack, as they followed Dr. Freidman through the crowd.

LIX grinned cheekily at him. "We could all hold hands."

Jack just grinned right back. "What a great idea." Still grinning, he grabbed both LIX and Sara by the arm. Without taking his eyes off of Dr. Freidman's back he said to Seth, "Hold onto your sister."

LIX's smile turned into a pout as she was dragged along. Beside her Sara laughed at the way her ears and tail drooped dramatically.

"In here," said Dr. Freidman as she ushered them into the Mars Exhibit that was closed for construction. "I like to come here to get away from the crowds."

After Jack released them, the teens made their way further into the exhibit towards a laptop that had been set up on a small table.

"Is this yours?" asked LIX, indicating the computer and the picture it showed on its screen.

Dr. Freidman nodded, "Yes. I was planning the details of my presentation here." Turning to Jack she asked, "So what is this about?"

"Well," said Jack slowly, obviously unsure as to how he should start. He pointed at Seth and Sara, "Those two are aliens."

"What?"

Jack sighed before trying again, his face and voice serious. "They're aliens. They're on the run from the government and they need to find their spaceship so that they can go home."

"Are you insane?" whispered Dr. Freidman harshly.

Jack held his hands out in a non-threatening way as he tried to placate her. "I just thought that you of all people would understand. And want to help!"

"Why?" she asked angrily. "Because I'm the _**nut job**_ speaking at the UFO convention?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by her finger and a quick, "Don't answer that."

"I know it sounds really crazy," began Jack, only to be cut off again by Dr. Freidman's sarcastic, "Ya think?"

Seeing the three teenagers fiddling with her laptop she raised her voice back to normal levels to get their attention. "Hey, please don't touch that!"

Ignoring her request, Seth picked the computer up. "You-you captured an image of our ship."

"The smudge?" At the two blondes' nods she asked incredulously, "You're telling me you think that smudge is your spaceship?"

"No, we don't think it is our spaceship," said Sara, her excitement clear, "We know it is our spaceship."

"How can you be sure?" asked LIX as she peered intently at it over Seth's shoulder. "It just looks like a smudge."

Dr. Freidman glanced from Sara to the image and then back again before turning to Jack and raising her hand. "That's it, I'm out." She shook her head, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll just grab my laptop and -" As she spoke she reached to grab it, only for her hand to pass right through Seth's arm, making him drop it. Jumping back, she could only stare in shock as the laptop floated in midair above the ground before beginning to rise slowly.

Sara directed the laptop to right itself before dropping it into Dr. Freidman's outstretched arms.

"Oh," added Jack, "they can also do all this, _**stuff**_, too." He chuckled a little at Dr. Freidman's shocked expression, but restrained himself at LIX's glare.

"Who are you?" Dr. Freidman's voice was barely a whisper as she looked from Seth to Sara.

Sara gave her brother a slight nod. "Show her."

Seth stared at her for a moment before pulling his strange little device out of his pocket. He fiddled with the controls for a second, before setting it where the laptop had been sitting earlier. He pushed a final button and a bright flash of light filled the room.

The light condensed and shaped itself, till it looked like they were standing in space. Around them planets and stars twirled in orbits, while meteors and space dust floated randomly by.

"Wow," whispered LIX, voicing what the two adults were both thinking, as she watched a planet revolve around a fiery orange star.

Jack dodged a meteor that was traveling towards his head, while Dr. Freidman played with some space dust that was drifting by her. She caught Jack's eye and let out a happy laugh.

"This is…huge." Her voice was soft and breathless. Turning back to Seth and Sara excitedly, she said, "I have so many questions. Even though, you _**are**_ the answers. Here, standing right in front of me!"

Jack cleared his throat loudly to bring her back to reality.

"I'm sorry," said Dr. Freidman, "very excited." She took a deep breath to center herself, "Right. Wh-where are you from?"

Sara pointed to the planet that was floating between her and Seth. "Our planet is located some three-thousand light-years from Earth."

"That's a long way off," muttered LIX to herself as she flicked her tail at a passing comet.

"Space travel of such sizable distance…" Dr. Freidman trailed off.

Seth picked up where she had stopped, "…is possible using paradoxical passage in the unbounded-"

"Wormholes!" exclaimed Dr. Freidman with a laugh. "That's it!" Turning to Jack she regained a bit of her composure before she continued, "My presentation at the Seti National Convention was right. Interstellar travel is possible using wormholes as a shortcut through space."

"Th-that was my first guess as well, wormholes." said Jack quickly, but he trailed off as everyone looked at him oddly. Embarrassed he left the conversation. "Um, continue doctor."

"Wh-why did you come to Earth?" Dr. Freidman's voice shook a little from the excitement she was feeling.

"Our planet is dying," said Sara seriously. "Millennia of neglect has rendered our atmosphere unbreathable."

"That sounds familiar," muttered LIX as she moved to get a better look at the planet Sara was pointing to.

"Our parents are scientists, who have studied Earth's changing climates in hopes of finding a solution to our own planet's future," said Seth, continuing the explanation.

"Our people's fears began to rise," said Sara, picking up where Seth left off seamlessly, "and then our parents discovered something our leaders were very interested in."

"Your planet, makes a suitable living environment for our kind," Seth said slowly. "It would be simplest to abandon our dying planet…and…occupy yours."

Jack interrupted indignantly, "Okay, so wait. I'm helping you conquer my own planet?"

"No!" said Sara intensely. "Most of the people on our planet are fiercely opposed to this plan."

"But fear of extinction triumphed among our people," continued Seth.

"But then our parents discovered a solution. An experiment at an outpost here was successful in regenerating life into all previously dying plants and trees," explained Sara earnestly.

Dr. Freidman nodded as she continued Sara's statement. "Which would enable the reoxygenating of your poisoned atmosphere."

"Alright, so what's the problem?" asked Jack.

"Our military," said Seth quickly. "They preferred the solution of occupation over science."

"Which is why we had to hurry and retrieve the experiment. All proof that our planet can be saved and your planet spared is in here." As she spoke she pulled out the device that they had found earlier in the weird stalagmite.

"Where are your parents again?" asked Jack, realizing that he'd never actually asked before.

Sara put the device back in her pocket. "They were arrested for their opposition."

"We agreed to complete the task for them, " added Seth.

"What about that assassin?" asked LIX, finally deciding to join the conversation.

"Wait, assassin?" interrupted Dr. Freidman. "What assassin?"

"The Syphon Warrior series Durranian 75 was created by our military," explained Sara.

Her voice hopeful, Dr. Freidman asked, "They're bred to…hunt?"

"They're bred to kill," said Seth seriously. "And if we don't return back home in time…the invasion will proceed."

Taking a deep breath to process everything, Dr. Freidman sighed and said, "We seriously need to find your spaceship."

"Yes," said Sara, "and we require your help to do so."

"Alright, just give me a moment to process all of this." Gathering her thoughts together, Dr. Freidman began pacing the room and summarizing everything she had just learned. "Alright," she began as the others watched, "Jack, the cab driver, found two aliens who are on a mission to save their planet from destruction and Earth from occupation. They have lost their spaceship and need my help to find it so that they can go home." She stopped pacing and nodded to the others, "Okay, I think I've got it. I just have a few questions."

"We shall answer them to the best of our ability, Dr. Friedman," said Sara.

"Well, um," Dr. Friedman trailed off before she blushed in embarrassment, "what are your names?"

The teens all blinked in surprise and Jack had the decency to look embarrassed at his forgetfulness.

LIX shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Leave it to Jack to introduce them by simply saying 'they're aliens'." Having drawn Dr. Friedman's attention to herself she began introducing everyone properly. "You have already met Jack." She waved her hand negligently in his direction before turning to point at the two blondes. "These two are Seth and Sara." Pointing to herself she said, "My name is LIX, short for Alexia. Spelled capital L, capital I, capital X."

Dr. Friedman opened her mouth to say something but was cut off as LIX continued.

Pointing to the doctor LIX cheekily added, "And you are Doctor Alex Friedman, scientist and UFO enthusiast."

"You can call me Alex," Alex told them before asking, "So, LIX, how do you fit into all this and why is your nickname 59 in roman numerals?"

"Um, well I-" LIX wasn't sure how she wanted to answer that and sent Seth an appreciative smile as he cut her off.

Seth cut across LIX's stuttering saying, "LIX is Jack Bruno's ward. She is also assisting us in our mission."

"Alright," Alex nodded in understanding. Turning back to Jack she said, "I'm afraid I don't have the first idea as to where the government would take a spaceship." Seeing Jack about to say something she cut him off by raising her hand and quickly continuing, "But I do know someone who will."

"You know where we can find this person," said Sara, obviously having pulled the information from Alex's mind.

Alex nodded and gathered her things up as she spoke. "Yes, they have a booth on this floor."

"That makes sense," said LIX as she and the others followed Alex out of the exhibit and back into the mainstream of traffic in the hall, "it is a UFO convention after all."

"Their booth is on the other side of the food court," said Alex as she set off at a fast pace down the hall, clearly expecting the others to keep up.

Being the last to leave the exhibit, LIX found herself a bit behind and she quickly lost sight of the others as a larger group of convention goers walked in front of her.

Seeing that they were losing her, Seth grabbed his sister and the two of them paused to wait for LIX to catch up to them. "There you are," said Seth when she found them. He held his hand out to her, "In order to avoid losing each other in the crowd, it would be best if we maintained contact."

LIX stared at him for a moment as one of her eyebrows rose and her lips twitched upwards, but she eventually took his hand in her own. "You know you could have just said that we should all hold hands."

Seth looked indignant at her suggestion but didn't say anything as he let Sara begin leading them down the hall in the direction that Jack and Alex had disappeared in.

"We have fallen a large distance behind Dr. Friedman and Jack Bruno," said Sara worriedly as she led them through the crowd glancing every which way for a glimpse of either of the adults.

Trailing along behind the two blondes, LIX tried to calm her down. "Don't worry, we'll find them. This hallway doesn't really have many exits and we know that their destination is just on the other side of the food court. I'm sure we'll see them, Jack isn't exactly tiny."

The three suddenly broke through the crowd to find themselves at the entrance to a large room filled with tables and chairs.

Seth glanced around. "This appears to be the food court Dr. Friedman mentioned."

Tugging on his hand, LIX led the way across the room to the hall on the other side. "So they should be somewhere over here." The three wandered for a bit before LIX stopped suddenly. She held up a hand to keep the other two quiet as her ears began to twitch. "I can hear Alex." Her ears twitched a bit more as she dragged the other two forward. "They're over here."

"We see them LIX," said Sara, dropping the others' hands. Alex and Jack stood with their backs to the teens beside a booth called 'Government Lies; Alien Truth'. They were talking to a short blonde bespectacled man wearing a light tan shirt and holding a clipboard. Sitting a bit to the side was a tall man wearing a black shirt, who was watching the conversation with rapt attention.

The three teens came to a stop behind Alex and Jack.

"Listen," said Alex, sounding rather annoyed, "we need to see Harlan right away."

The guy with the clipboard opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the guy wearing black, who had been manning the booth. Standing up he moved to stand beside his co-worker, who barely came up to his shoulder, and said, "Doctor Harlan is presently unavailable for consultations. We're more than qualified to answer any questions you might have-"

Alex cut the guy off before he could finish. "There is no time for that. It is a matter of life and death that we see Harlan now.

"They seem to be having a problem finding the whereabouts of Dr. Friedman's expert from those two men," said Seth quietly.

Sara nodded and glanced at LIX. Tentatively she offered in a quiet voice, to avoid drawing the arguing adults attention, "Perhaps we should attempt to assist them?"

LIX crossed her arms over her chest and, shaking her head, reassured them, "I'm sure Jack will get them to share the information without much trouble."

The tall guy shared a glance with his partner before shaking his hands in pretend terror and mockingly saying, "Life and death, ooh, uber scary, drama queen theatrics." Turning back to Alex he asked, "What's the 411 sitch?"

Obviously annoyed, Alex began, "Okay-" only to be cut off by Jack's hand on her shoulder.

Stepping closer to the two men, Jack looked them both in the eye. "You're currently alive. Unless you take us to Harlan, you'll be dead." Behind him, LIX let out a low rumbling growl.

The two men looked at each other for a moment before they both started babbling about how the group should just follow them.

"This way," said the one in black.

The one with the clipboard nervously ushered the group forward. "We should probably go together."

Ignoring the nervous chatter of their guides, the group made its way out of the building through an 'Employees Only' exit. They emerged into a back-lot crowded with vehicles. They wove their way between cars and trailers till they found an old RV near the middle of the lot.

Their guides moved to the side as Alex stepped forward and knocked on the RV's door.

"Go away!" yelled a muffled voice from inside. "The book signing's not till 4:30. Read the brochure!"

"Harlan, it's Alex Freidman," said Alex loudly.

A moment later the door opened to reveal an old man with messy white hair. He grinned at them. "Doctor Freidman. Kelsepries?"

Alex ignored him and quickly said, "We need to speak with you immediately, it is incredibly important."

"Oh alright," said Harlan amiably, his grin still present, "Come on in." He moved away from the door and beckoned them inside.

"Jack," LIX tugged on his sleeve as he moved to enter the RV, making him stop and turn to look at her. "I'm gonna stay out here and keep an eye out."

Jack looked at her for a moment. "Too crowded?"

She gave him a little smile and nodded, "Yeah."

"Have fun," said Jack, ruffling her hair before joining the others inside and leaving her alone.

LIX let out a tired sigh as the door closed behind him and leaned back against the RV's side. Through the thin paneling she could hear Alex's voice, but couldn't make out what she was saying. Sighing again, she let herself slide down to sit on the pavement. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them. After giving the empty parking lot a quick scan, she lowered her head and closed her eyes, as she let herself doze a little. Her ears twitched alert on top of her head at the various sounds that reached them.

A few minutes later a shout of "Witch Mountain!" from inside the trailer startled her out of the light catnap she'd slipped into. With a tired groan she pushed herself back onto her feet and did a little stretch. The muffled talking continued for a bit and then the door opened and the group came filing back out.

"We get what we needed?" asked LIX, her eyes catching sight of the rolled up poster Alex was now carrying.

Jack nodded and with the others following made his way back the way they had come earlier. "Yep, hopefully we've still got a lead on those government guys."

"I doubt it," said LIX as she held the 'Employees Only' entrance door open for them. "They have a lot of resources. It's hard to give them the slip."

Alex pulled to the lead beside Jack to help navigate through the maze-like booths and quietly asked, "Personal experience?"

Jack just gave a small nodded, his mouth a tight line. Pushing away the dredged up memories, he plowed on. "I've got a plan that might give us more time."

"What did you have in mind Jack Bruno," asked Seth from the back of the group.

"Well if we could just change cars it'd help," said Jack. "They're looking for the cab, so it'd be best if we could find another ride."

"I know we're in a hurry," said LIX, interrupting Jack's planning of how to get to Witch Mountain, "but do you think we could possibly get me some clothes? I keep getting leered at."

Jack opened his mouth to say 'no', but it snapped shut without a sound as his brain processed what she'd said. He spun in a slow circle, taking in the number of boys and men staring at them, or rather at his adopted daughter. He gave a nod and with a glare at the assembled males, he moved to stand protectively beside her. "Right, new plan, we buy LIX some clothes and then we worry about the cab.

With LIX now in the center of their group they headed to the Convention's main floor.

"Thank you," said Sara getting the group to halt as they entered the Hotel's large foyer, "all of you. Seth and I understand that you don't have to go forward with us and yet you choose to."

Alex didn't hesitate at all to respond, "You're welcome. And don't worry, we're gonna get you home, I promise." Turning to Jack she continued, " Now, I'm gonna go grab my stuff. Let's meet upstairs in the convention at my booth, then we get your cab."

"Alex, uh listen," started Jack slowly, as if gathering his courage, "I can't let you come with us."

Alex reared back a little as she heard him. "What?"

Jack lifted his hands in a placating way. "If half of what Harlan says is true it's way too dangerous. They got in my cab, they're my problem."

"Um, no." Alex had recovered from her momentary shock and began to advance on him. "I have spent my entire life preparing for this moment and now, when I have two actual aliens in need of my help, you want me to walk away? It's not going to happen. Man up soldier, I'm in." Seeing from his face that she had won, she eased up a bit. "Just, lay low till we meet up."

Jack nodded "Sure. Right. Lay low, easy. How hard could that be?"

Alex gave him and the teens a smile and walked into the crowd towards the elevators.

"She thinks you're very handsome," said Sara snapping Jack out of the dazed thoughts he'd settled into.

Blinking he asked, "Really?"

Sara nodded, "And smarter than you think you are."

A grin bloomed across Jack's face. "So she was thinking about me huh?"

Sara just nodded again. "At least as much as you are thinking about her."

"Here LIX," said Seth, drawing her attention away from what Sara was picking up from Jack's mind and toward a table that was setup nearby and had a rack of costumes for sale beside it. "They might have something suitable."

Grabbing Sara as Jack began to ask something else about Alex's thoughts, LIX pulled the girl after Seth to the booth. He was pulling one of the outfits off the rack as she got close enough to read the name of the booth. A feeling of dread washed over her when she registered 'Hercules and the Women from Mars' and a picture of scantily clad barbarian warrior women.

"I don't think that this will decrease the number of stares that LIX has been receiving," said Sara, drawing LIX's attention to the rather skimpy outfit Seth was holding and the blush that was slowly spreading across his cheeks.

Eyeing the costume that was basically leather underwear LIX agreed. "I think I'll just stay like this for now."

Seth nodded and quickly placed the outfit back on the rack. Ignoring the booth owner's mutterings about prudes, he rejoined the girls. "Where is Jack?"

The three teens looked around, but the tall man was nowhere in sight.

"Perhaps he went upstairs already," suggested Sara.

LIX shrugged, "If not he'll be heading up there in a bit anyway since that's where we were going to meet Alex."

"Let us try upstairs then," said Sara, as she grabbed hold of LIX and her brother and began pulling them towards the nearest escalator.


End file.
